So, it is party time again, folks!

[wiseheart]

Each year this time, we launch my virtual birthday party, which starts on October 1 and ends on October 9 at midnight, sharp. The goals of the party are to post as many comments and collapse as many threads as possible, on as many new pages as we can. It is always great fun, as you can see if you check out the similar entries of the last few years.

This year, I'll also throw the real party at mid-time - and post the recipes of all the food that will be there for you, so that you can all participate if you want to. Virtual food has no calories.

Fandom-related discussions are as welcome as the ones about coffee or chocolate (just to name a few favourites from previous years), and, of course, pictures and recipes of birthday cakes. ;)

So, drop by, tell your story, post your pics or silly poems, ask questions you always wanted to ask and have a good time!

Soledad, in excited expectation




Oh, and by the way, to provide birthday gifts hobbit-style, I've got a revived story and a Kansas 2 update for you.

Enjoy!

Comments

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Jenn asked about current reading, what about current watching? I've almost given up watching live television (never convenient and so much of it is garbage) and at the moment we're watching Lewis DVDs, what was supposed to be the final season but they seem to be doing just one more...

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Current tv: Doctor Who (although not really feeling very into it) and Only Connect (which is a very fun quiz).
Rewatching: Yes, Minister - which as ever remains very topical

There are several things I really should catch up on: Sherlock, BBC Musketeers, etc. The pvr is fairly full of stuff, not to mention dvds, and I don't even remember what is there. Hopefully now my partner has finished and handed in his MA dissertation, we will get round to catching up or deleting things.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I enjoy Only Connect, though I tend to catch it when channel surfing late at night (I have insomnia). Yes, Minister is one of my all-time favourites.

We stopped recording a year or so ago -- it was just becoming a struggle to watch things and a source of stress.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

I mostly like having a fair amount recording, because it means not running out of things to watch, although running out of space is a different ;)

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I am the same! There are things stacking up on my PVR that I will want to watch, but just don't feel in the mood for right now, and then there are things that I will watch just as soon as I get time after they have been recorded.

In the first category is Stargate SG-1; I do love the show in principle, but sometimes I just get fed up with the stupid 'love' story between Carter and O'Neill. When I get back in the mood, I can usually ignore it, but sometimes that requires too much effort.

In the second category is Doctor Who, The Great British Bake-Off and Criminal Minds; Irish television is broadcasting two different seasons of the latter on consecutive nights, which had me thoroughly confused until I worked that out.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Yes, mood and attention is important. I quite often end up with quizzes and the like on, because they don't require close attention. And loads of films - because there is space and it sounds interesting.

I've ended up watching The Great British Bake-Off as well (from part of the way through) - it is quite interesting to see all the different techniques and stuff. :)

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I only got into The Great British Bake-Off part way through, too. Somebody at work commented on it to me, after the 'European' episode where the technical challenge was making a Swedish prinsesstårta, asking me if I had seen it and if this was indeed a typical Swedish recipe. I hadn't, but it is, and I said so. This got me curious enough about the show to see if I could watch that episode on the BBC iPlayer, only to find that the episode was on again on the weekend. So I set my PVR to recorded it, and once I had watched it I was hooked!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

I think I saw one or two episodes before that. Those cakes looked very impressive!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

My satellite receiver is still dead - service guy failed to show up last week - so I'm watching a daily quiz programme with Mum on Hungarian tv (at least we spend an hour together each evening) and some canned stuff for my writing.

I re-watched all 13 episodes of Crusade recently, for the cryptic Galen stuff, to get into the character's head for my current Babylon 5 crossover story, and some B5 episodes from the end of Season 3, as the story takes place in that time frame.

Next on the plan is to finally watch the Black Guardian trilogy of Dr Who, featuring the Fifth Doctor, which I've purchased via the English bookshop in summer but never got around to actually see it. And I still have to watch the second half of Merlin's last season, which I bought in Vienna around May or so... *sigh*

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Hopefully the service guy will come soon and be able to fix the problem.

Yay for rewatching Babylon 5 and Crusade

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I must admit that it's for research purposes, but I still enjoy them.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

It's a pity you can't watch it at work, whilst doing all this sitting around.

I've never got into B5 though a few people have suggested it's like DS9.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

No, I don't think so - aside from the fact that both shows take place on a space station.

I am biased towards Star Trek forever, but B5 does have one big advantage: the 5 years have an ongoing storyline. There are lots of filler chapters, of course, and the 5-year-arc would have worked better had TPTB not sabotaged the show so that JMS was forced to finish everything of interest in a hurry in mid-Season 4 - only to give the green light for more and than have to come up with something to fill it. But some of the characters were interesting, the alien cultures, too, and there was a lot of background work.

Really, it's like apples and oranges - it depends on your personal taste which one do you find better.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I think people were comparing it with the Dominion War arc in later DS9, tho' to be honest that wasn't my favourite aspect of DS9. I got the impression it might be a bit depressing which rather put me off -- definitely not robust enough for depressing entertainment these days. Or am I confusing it with BSG?

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

It isn't anywhere near as depressing as BSG, but it does have a fair few dark bits and aspects. However, I'm not sure if it is darker than DS9 - sort of dark in different ways (much more to do with the government going to the bad and what happens to people who try and resist, and the like)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I gave the "reimagined" BSG a try - it lasted about 30 minutes. Then I never touched it again even with a ten-foot pole. Classic!BSG might have deteriorated as they went on, but I still prefer it - for those characters, I could feel. For the corrupted,amoralized ones I can't.

But I don't like the reimagined Star Trek, either, so I'm probably just too old-fashioned and too protective about that which I love.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I thought the first ST reboot film was ok in parts, but simply couldn't abide the second one.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

That sounds intriguing -- perhaps I'll give it a try next year when life settles down a bit.

[sammydragoncat]

Fall TV schedule just started here, so I have been watching Gotham, Forever, Castle, Scorpion, Agents of SHIELD, The Mysteries of Laura, The Red Band Society, Supernatural, Flash and Arrow.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I think this just underlines how out of touch I am with modern broadcast television -- the only one of these I've ever seen is Castle, and then only part of a programme!

[(Anonymous)]

Castle, Agents of SHIELD, Supernatural and Arrow are returning shows - the rest are brand new

[sammydragoncat]

the above anonymous comment is me - I'm at work and forgot to log in

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

ohh.. Castle - that is another show I'm way behind on.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I am hoping we will be getting the new Agents of SHIELD fairly rapidly here in the UK, like we did last year. I haven't seen it come up on the guide of my PVR yet, though E4 seems to be rerunning the first season at a high rate, so perhaps that is a good sign!

[sammydragoncat]

Tonight, will be the 3 episode to the new season - so hopefully you should get it soon.