Two excellent (and free!) London Review of Books articles to share, before I toddle off to bed:

1) (11 September 2008 issue) Ross McKibbin on the currently skewed ideological alignments in British politics, with a fascinating thought-experiment towards the end on what a reformed three-party House of Commons might look like.

2) (25 September 2008 issue) Donald MacKenzie on the importance of Libor, one of the more crucial but least understood aspects of the world's current economic woes. Even if you're suffering from information overload on matters financial, it's worth reading as a well-written introduction to an often confusing subject.

• Actors and Movies: Happy Birthday, Tiana Benjamin! (Angelina Johnson)
  
  
• Communities: circes_canvas is a new multifandom community for femslash and art.
  
  hp_mirror is a new community for HP Mirror Mirror: The Point-of-View Switch Fest.
  
  
• News: New photos from HP 2009 mini calender emerge online.
  
  
• Searches: daily_snitch is searching for art, fiction, communities and resources that features Gilderoy Lockhart.
  
  

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Apologies for the CAPSLOCK!subject line, but I thought this post deserved a little more visibility. From the end of this month, I'm going to be giving up my old Postmaster address and switching most everything LJ-related over to my Gmail account. I'll send out reminder e-mails as best I can to people in my Postmaster address book, but here's the general LJ announcement from this journal.

Old address: gramarye at postmaster dot co dot uk
New address: gramarye1971 at gmail dot com

You may now return to your regularly scheduled postings.

And a crack!ficlet.

Zero Requiem Corollary
Categories: Crack/Humor
Summary: Capes and such notwithstanding, Lulu made one seriously bad fashion choice.
Words: ~400
More subtextual Lelouch/Suzaku.

Takes place before the end but will still spoil you for the whole damn series.

( 'What the hell is that on your head.' )

I finished Code Geass yesterday. I bring fic.

Title: The Price of Living
Summary: Ten years after.
Categories: Drama/Angst
Words: ~1600
Most stuff I write that isn't outright smut has at least slash undertones in it. This one is no exception. Subtextual Lelouch/Suzaku.

Spoilers for the whole damn series, natch.

( The Price of Living )

I may have to cheerfully strangle emily_shore for posting a link to this Telegraph article about Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson.

Brown and Prescott? What was I thinking?

'I said the real bane of Tony Blair's life was Gordon and Peter's inability to get on. Fiona (Millar) said: "You have to be tough on Gordon and tough on the causes of Gordon." Peter laughed, and said: "I'm afraid I am the causes of Gordon."'

– Alastair Campbell's diaries, March 1996.

Granted, this is coming from the evil ninja master himself. But the possibilities for a deliciously bitter, angry TreasuryBlackOps!Brown/Mandelson saga are so numerous that I wouldn't even know where to begin.

• Actors and Movies: New Stills from "Half-Blood Prince" Video Game
  
  Sneak peek: Harry, Ron and Hermione reunited in the darkest Harry Potter film yet
  
  Bonnie Wright designs album cover for charity
  
  Special effects make-up artist talks Half-Blood Prince
  
  Emma Watson attends Chanel show at Paris Fashion Week
  
  Knitwear manufacturer talks Harry Potter uniforms


• Communities: hp_yule_balls has issued a call for beta-readers.


• News: New Harry Potter board games
  
  UK Harry Potter Audio Book Ad Campaigns and Photos Now Online
  
  'I'm not Dumbledore,' says Prof


• Searches: daily_snitch is looking for fanworks and resources featuring Gilderoy Lockhart.

Send your fandom news to Daily Snitch!

Now that's just weird. I don't know if I can wrap my brain around Amanda Tapping with dark hair and a British accent.

So, the first pass is done. Thanks to the lovely and talented katmoonshaker for the picture



Things to fix/finish

• I still need to get something proper for my head. That sorta kinda worked, but not really.
  
• The straps are set too wide -- they will get moved -- actually, I'll just rotate the apron 90' and sew the straps on. When I tried it on the first time, I didn't like the way that the gores hung with the narrow front (I think that they're too big) -- so that's why I used the wide front.
  
• I still need to make a proper boat neckline for the underdress too.
  
• I'd like to make a Viking Caftan to go with that for colder weather as well as a proper woolen underdress too.
  
• And I think it's too short.
  
• And I need to finish the seams.

I used Kolfinna's pattern http://earlyperiod.com/inc/pattern-apron-kolfinna-svana.pdf (Sir Kolfinna? I know that there's a title in there, but I don't know what it is-- I'm sorry!) but I think that I made the gores too big. Next time, I'm going to try a different pattern -- I'm going to use cinnkitty's theory -- http://earlyperiod.com/articles/viking-overdress/ I really like the way that they look on her. I might try still a 3rd pattern too. I wanted to stick with the Very Simple (tm) for this first dress. I make it from scratch -- well, I've known how to do that, but I did the pattern from scratch too -- AND IT FIT! Finna's reconstruction is just a little more complicated -- her side-pieces are more funnel-shaped than just straight triangles.

See, I have this fabric



And both pieces are claiming demanding that they must be Viking Aprons.

And that's the first 2 pieces for the AS50 A&S 50 Challenge. :-D Next up? Hmmmmmmmm

(Off-Topic -- I want the dress that the Ghost Whisperer is wearing tonight! Double-breasted shirt-waist. :-D)

She winked.

Possibly the most important moment of her life, the moment when her credibility, the viability of her party's campaign, and the safety of our democracy were on the line, and she thought it was a good idea to ....wink....at the camera.

What kind of dunce is this woman? It's not the Miss Alaska pageant. Even there it wouldn't be a good idea to wink at the judges.

This country has so many serious problems, and all she could manage was standing there parroting scripted lines full of glorious generalities. And winking at us.

You know, usually when somebody winks at you when they're talking, it means they're foolin' around -- they don't really mean what they're saying. That would be worrisome.... if she had actually said anything.

I really suck at the while birthday thing. I think I might just start posting them a month at a time.

Today would have been 's birthday. We never had the chance to meet IRL, but we'd known each other for several years. *sigh* crusaderdrake posted an entry today on her journal.

And on a happier note, it's also ferga's birthday! Hope it's a good one!

Tags: friends

"Like God, the market is all around us ... It guides us with an invisible hand ... " -- Stephen Colbert

*****************************************************************************************************

Harry Lime: If I offered you twenty thousand pounds for every dot that stopped [moving], would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money? Or would you calculate how many dots you could afford to spare? ... Nobody thinks in terms of human beings. Governments don't. Why should we? They talk about the people and the proletariat, I talk about the suckers and the mugs - it's the same thing. They have their five-year plans, so have I.
Martins: You used to believe in God.

• Actors and Movies:
  Matthew Lewis talks hair & Tom Felton.
  Voldemort & Harry Potter on Empire Australia's Greatest Characters list.
  Emma Watson attends the YSL, and Sonia Rykie 40th anniversary & Valli shows in Paris.
  
  
• Challenges:
  hp_fringeart has updated with its October 2008 Challenge, Book Covers!
  Winners of awards in the recently-ended round of hp_tarot are now up: here on LJ, and on IJ here!
  spewchallenges has voting up for the September Quidditch Challenge! Voting closes Tuesday, winners announced on Wednesday.
  
  
• Discussions:
  sistermagpie writes: Where did that ship come from? Recently I’ve read a couple of conversations that made me think about shipping...
  chrysantza writes: A while back I was talking about how much more powerful the Cute are than the Scary: Maybe it's because I'm a Hufflepuff, but if I were Voldemort, donuts would be diet food...
  
  
• General Interest:
  Who shot JK?: behind the scenes pictures and out-takes from a photo shoot with J.K. Rowling & Stephen Fry are now online.
  furiosity provides: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows chapter-by-chapter commentary: chapters 13 - 16.
  Art Insights Gallery, which regularly features exclusive prints of Potter-related art, has released more exclusive book-related art this week!
  
  
• News:
  JK Rowling tops Forbes' highest paid authors list.
  Harry Potter and that big building: a clue is given?
  
  
• Resource:
  helmet_fest2008 has posted its Fred and George Master List.
  
  
• Searches:
  daily_snitch is looking for fan work and resources featuring Gilderoy Lockhart!
  
  
  

Send your fandom news to Daily Snitch!

• Actors and Movies: New Half-Blood Prince pictures flood online
  
  New Half-Blood Prince sticker poster book scans
  
  New Half-Blood Prince Harry and Dumbledore image
  
  Equus open night draws celebrities, raves
  
  Wild Target shooting to start on the Isle of Man
  
  New Half-Blood Prince video game screenshots
  
  
• Challenges: snape_potter November Challenge: Month of the Dead, Month to Remember
  
  
• Communities: hd_fanart started posting today
  
  rontoberfest started posting today
  
  hp_creatures is having voting for the Creature Fest
  
  
• Discussions: suntzu_s asked the Neville Question of the Week: What is Neville's Patronus?
  
  
• News: New Sorcerer’s Stone Paperback Cover Art
  
  Harry Potter still a top read in Australia
  
  
• Nifty: bethbethbeth posted a lot of Snape-centric recs
  
  
• Polls: iamisaac asks for your thoughts about a UK con in May
  
  
• Searches: icarusancalion is looking for an HP “genre finders” group, and also: HP fic which takes place on or prominently features the Hogwarts Express?
  
  daily_snitch is looking for fan work and resources featuring Gilderoy Lockhart
  
  

Send your fandom news to Daily Snitch!

Just started watching episode 02 of Code Geass Season Two--

( Unspecific though technically spoilery picture below the cut--no character death or nothin' )

OH MY GOD THAT WAS THE SEXIEST THING I'VE SEEN IN EVER. LELOUUUUUUCHE.

*WATCHES ANOTHER DOZEN TIMES*

Nicked from agonistes:

The Rules: Post info about ONE Supreme Court decision, modern or historic to your lj. (Any decision, as long as it's not Roe v. Wade.) For those who see this on your f-list, take the meme to your OWN lj to spread the fun.

New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)

The Pentagon Papers case. It's a fascinating story in its own right, not only for Daniel Ellsberg's reasoning behind his choice to leak classified material but for the varied opinions of the justices in handing down the decision. It also makes my archivist's heart happy, especially because the outcome of this case influenced the publication of Richard Crossman's ministerial diaries in the UK a few years later.