Monday Tidbits

Well, while I actually had a lovely weekend, I am really just not feeling it today.  Between the arrival of Fall kicking up my allergies and the cold my husband had last weekend, I am now in the hacking up my lungs stage of my own cold.  Whee.  I went ahead and gave in to the siren song of DayQuil, and while this is mostly good news for the alleviation of my congestion, it does mean I am nowhere near coherent enough to write anything of substance today.

So, I offer you up a few random tidbits for your perusal and enjoyment today.

Here is the finished blanket I was working on last week.  Now that its been given to the recipients I can share it with you.

Cocoa Waves by Cori 2010.

Pattern:  Hi-Five Towel by Sarah C

And yeah, you're reading that second caption correctly.  I did use a dish towel pattern for this blanket.  It is just a really awesome pattern, and after making a few towels with it, I wanted to see how it looked in a bigger piece.  I am really really pleased with how this one came out.

Yesterday I finished the birthday gift I was working on, so I'll have photos of that after it's been given.  My crochet plan for this week is to make my sister's October swap squares and that is it.  I think I am going to take a mini-hiatus from crochet for the rest of the week at least.

For the Star Wars fans out there, I stumbled across a couple of cool links over the weekend.  First, a little insight into what we can expect for the third Robot Chicken Star Wars special.   Color me excited about that.  Also, io9 got hold of some interesting behind the scenes trivia from the original trilogy.  It's a fun little read.  I certainly didn't know that Yoda was originally intended to be played by a monkey in a mask.  Though I am very glad that they ended up bringing in Frank Oz instead, to be sure. 

Also, the New York City Comic Con happened this past weekend.  One of Tor.com's writers attended a panel of science fiction and fantasy authors and did an awesome write-up on it.  Be warned, this is a very long article, but well worth the read.  It features, among others, Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files, Codex Alera), Naomi Novik (Temeraire), and Brandon Sanderson (who is finishing up the Wheel of Time series). 

And on a slightly more serious note, looks like Congress is entertaining a bill that would give the Attorney General power to shut down any website that he thinks infringes on any sort of copyright.  The bill gives a very broad definition of infringement and not only would sites be shut down but their creators would be permanently blacklisted from creating internet content.  Sylvia Bond over at Pink Raygun has a write-up that goes into how this will affect the online presence of fandom across the web, as well as just Joe Schmoe net users.  If you're interested in signing the petition against the bill, you can do so here.  It looks like the bill has been delayed for now, but it doesn't hurt to sign the petition if this is something you care about.

Tuesday is Your Friend

Howdy, folks! 

Just a few quick reminders for you: 

There's a new episode of Stargate Universe on tonight! 

(Syfy @ 8 p.m. CST)

Caprica is finally back with new episodes right after Stargate!!

I will, of course, have my Stargate write-up for you tomorrow.  Speaking of Stargate, I found out today that there is a series of comic books out about the SG-1 character Vala Mal Doran (fabulously portrayed by Claudia Black).  It gives a glimpse into some of her back story, which, given that it's Vala, has got to be pretty interesting.  Geek With Curves did a write-up of the series here.  I so far have been able to stay away from the Stargate comic books (I know, I don't really know why either), but I think with this I might have to cave in.  It looks like the first four issues are out and a trade paperback collection of them is due out next month, so I went ahead and preordered it.  I will definitely let you know how it is. 

Speaking of Stargate reading material, I don't know if you are familiar with the Stargate novels that Fandemonium has been putting out, but they are mostly pretty fantastic.  They've got a pretty good batch of writers who are familiar enough with the shows and their mythology that usually each book feels just like its own stand alone episode.  There are a few hit or miss moments here or there sometimes--usually when someone doesn't get a character quite right or an author that is clearly much more familiar with SG-1 takes a stab at an Atlantis story and doesn't quite get all of the Pegasus nuances down.  But still, I highly recommend these books for anyone who misses SG-1 or Atlantis and is looking for new adventures of a better quality (or with less, um, monkey business) than fan fiction.  Which isn't to say I don't love me some Stargate fan fiction, but these are better, trust me. 

My only really big bone of contention with these books is that they have got some serious kinks going on in their marketing/distribution system.  See, in order to keep up enthusiasm in between book releases, they'll go ahead and announce new titles well before they have finished the publication process.  They'll even have them up for preorder on Amazon.  This is cool and all, except that when there are delays, you're sitting there waiting for your book that you preordered and it doesn't come for another month or three or twelve.  The SGA title Brimstone, for example, was initially slated to come out in March or May of 2008, and I preordered it on Amazon two days before its scheduled release date.  But apparently there was some sort of glitch in the approval process, and well, you know what, it still hasn't come out.  I tend to hop on Amazon once or twice a year and just preorder any of the new books that they have showing available--but after all of the delays from the last batch I swore to myself that I would never do that again.  I would just wait until each book was actually in stock to order it. But, I am kind of addicted to preordering, and also, apparently, a masochist.  So  after I finished the most recent stack of Stargate books in my reading pile, I went ahead and preordered all of the ones that were available to preorder.  Sigh.  So, when I got three emails today from Amazon telling me that there had been a delay in my order and that some items would be arriving later than originally expected, was I surprised?  Not really.  I can't even be mad about it any more, but still.  I wish they could get their act together, because honestly, that have a really good thing going. 

On the bright side, it isn't as if I don't have plenty to read while I wait for those to finally come out, do I?

Read us, Cori, please--before the dragon gets to us!

And that's just my pile of books to read.  And despite my attempts to whittle my way through it, it keeps getting bigger.  I keep saying, oh, no, I won't buy any more books, but really, how can you not buy more books if you're a bibliophile?  I am lucky that my husband is not only a patient man, but also an understanding one who happens to have the same problem.  Man, and those Outlander books?  When I get to those, I'm going to have to reread the first three in the series first anyway, because I haven't read them since the start of 2009, and I'll need to refresh my memory.  AND I'll have to take a break in whatever I am reading next month when the new Wheel of Time book comes out, because that is an immediate must-read, of course.  And I guess I shouldn't complain too much about the lack of Stargate books, because fourth and fifth down from the top on the right are actually two more Stargate books.  Hmm.  Time to stop complaining, Cori. 

Right, moving on.  So, it's Tuesday, yay!  That means a new webisode of The Guild, huzzah!  Sadly, it's the season finale, but that just means that Felicia Day and crew are hard at work on making a new season now, so I am trying to not be too sad about the end of season four.  It's not that hard, because today's episode was AWESOME.  Check it out here. 

There's also a new webisode of Legend of Neil.  For those of you unfamiliar with that series, it follows slacker Neil who is "magically" transported into the original The Legend of Zelda game.  It is not for the easily offended, but I for one find it extremely hilarious.  It manages to make fun of video games and video gamers in a loving way that you realize is really a tribute to us and an acknowledgment of how far video games have come since the original Zelda. The current season is actually the last--but I am okay with that.  I think American show makers have a lot to learn about just telling a story and ending it where appropriate, rather than stretching it out as long as possible.  I would rather have three outstanding seasons of this series than six or eight mediocre seasons.  You can check out the newest episode here.  Kill Link!


And, lastly, I shall close with...crochet!  Yay!  This past Saturday my husband and I attended the wedding of one of the guys he is in a band with (Holy Moly, they are awesome, check them out), and so of course I made the happy couple a blanket for their wedding present.  Instead of going with an actual blanket pattern this time, I went to my pattern book and picked out a cool stitch pattern and used that.  The stitch I picked out is called Diamond Mesh, and I would love to give you a link to it, but I can't, because my copy of the pattern is a photocopy from a pattern book and I don't know what pattern book it came from.  Boo me, I know.  But, here is what the stitch looks like:

Diamond Mesh

And here is the entire blanket:

Diamond Mesh Blanket by Cori (2010)

And that's all I've got for you.  Enjoy your Tuesdays!  Oh, and if you're looking for something to watch before Stargate and Caprica, there's a new episode of Glee on Fox.  It looks like they are doing their version of Only the Good Die Young, which is one of my top five favorite songs of all time, yay!