apples how you like dem
I realise this is not your standard-issue question, but hey, it's worth a try:

Am invited for dinner at my Chinese colleague & her husband's home; she's from Sichuan, he's from Hubei. Of course it's entirely possible they'll prepare something Eastern-seaboard-y (she laughingly told me she'd always wanted to live in Canton just for the food there) because all three of us dig that very much, but in any case, he recommended that I bring a red wine, so:

What might pair well with the above? I do have a robust Portuguese Douro here, a Northern-Italian rare vine -- light and crisp, the 'net tells me -- and of course a standard Rhone Valley French bottle.
amelia pond, first companion of the eleventh doctor, looking wide-eyed and full of wonder
Business trip on Wednesday was trippy, but I shall spare you the down-to-former details and instead focus on the tastiness that were the nibblets for lunch, and of course what was then offered during Burns Supper in the cafeteria.

2012-01-28
Damn straight I ate haggis. And quite liked it -- this version was pure-lamb, tasty (and, yes: cut in half by sword, live).

[profile] sweetcolleague: Usually, on the way back, I get a cheeseburger at McDonald's. This is way better.
[personal profile] monanotlisa: I'm not even Scottish, but I'LL SAY!
waste of makeup - sga
When I was leaving the office at 10:30pm, one of my boys from the department was just returning to work. Yeah, sometimes I don't even know.

Definitely lost some time today, much like Fringe spoiler #1 ) in Fringe spoiler #2 ), or of course Scully'n Mulder way back when. And not even during that doctor's visit that made me cancel my sushi rendez-vous with [profile] voguefan (who I used to share an office with, for those of you with very long memories).

I'm only getting the first of those prescription massages next Wednesday, alas, so right now this glass of wine will have to suffice to disperse at least some of the tension: having an organic primitivo that's quite drinkable (and actually more zinfandel-y than the majority of its Southern-Italian brethren).
eternal torment - sga
Was well on my to fully recuperating from my leave-at-six-return-at-eleven business trip the day before when I got this call at 7pm. Now there's this new project (yes, on top of the other ones) with a deadline next week on my desk. However, I'm not alone on the level of the team that does actual work, so it's not quite Abandon Hope All Ye Who Are Entered time. Yet.

Still went to have dim sum with Mark, the pal o' mine met at work three years ago when we shared the same office space, and also the same frustrations, and that was good. As ever, I marvelled at the amounts of food a skinny guy like him can consume. At some point, he started complaining about all the accidents he's had this year (he bike-races; he also falls off his 'cycle, quite frequently). Halfway through his broken thumb lament and the sprained wrist jeremiad, though, he finally realised who he was talking to, and started laughing. There's of course no Hobbled By Accident Olympics, but if there were, I'd have him and the whole office beat before they even enter the friggin' stadium.

In any case, when we left the dim sum place, I smelled like one big fried piece of pork (the place is good and affordable; what it's not is ventilated in any way: with an open kitchen, all frying pans and fire). So I couldn't have crawled under my sweet-smelling covers anyway -- thought I might as well get my gym routine in while I still could (and did). Because tomorrow night, I already know what I'll be doing. Drafting drafting drafting...sending!

Speaking of, please send help. Or Fringe porn.
be alert!
But the EU Parliament still has to vote on it -- and is the only directly elected voice of the people of the European Union. The Parliament rejecting this pact is the best chance we've got to stop ACTA -- for everybody:

Lincoln staring at Alt!Liv wistfully on that bench in 4x09 during their conversation about O/L in ALL THE 'VERSES. ;)
one night to be confused
Fandom: Fringe
Pairing: Alt!Liv/Lincoln
Rating: Mature
Wordcount: ~3,400
Time/Space!Line: Another Amber!verse story, namely the obligatory red'n blue tag for 4x09, set some time after the events of the episode.
Beta thanks to: [personal profile] ziparumpazoo <3
Summary: After that particular scene, how could I not write this?

one night to be confused )
girl on a mission - alias
Work, play, travel )

On a related note, I'm all for kinks like this one, narcissistic as that is, or of course problematic on one of the deeper levels of male and female representation.
little girl in football shoes, her head tangled in a german flag
Oh, Süddeutsche. ♥ This is from the first feuilleton page; the same sentiment was on the front-page article about the latest polls in France on their attitudes toward the Germans: Respect and trust, but no passion at all. "They stayed together for the children", one pollster snerked.



For Europe, indeed.
thomas - skins
Originally posted by [personal profile] agirlnamedtruth at Vidding

If you're from the UK and you believe in freedom of speech and an uncensored interenet, you really need to sign this petition. There are others floating about, but that particular one is the best way to ensure that your voice gets heard. It's hosted on the directgov website and addresses parliament directly. If it gets more than 100,000 signatures, it becomes eligible for discussion in the House of Commons.

UK folks, please click if you haven't already? )

ETA: Via [personal profile] the4ts:

[O]ther on-line petitions for non-UK bods?

International
European
Netherlands
Poland
USA
Frowny-faced little Blue!verse Lincoln, Amber version, blue background!


tim kang as kimball cho
Did not wake up with a headache, thank God. Or possibly, thank the barkeep. In my as ever overcrowded, smoke-dense cocktail bar, I was better-prepared than Kay: She'd had halibut in a suckling-pig crust while I had a surprisingly sizeable portion of roast rabbit on savoy. (The oysters are neutral, because each of us had two fines de claires.)

Because it's a lazy Saturday, I'm wearing my Fringe Division hoodie. Also, pink underwear. Speaking of. )

Meeting up with [profile] witchsisnotlisa later. She can finally reveal the secret of how to friend folks on Goodreads. I was uncharacteristically stumped.
philipp broyles in b/w, captioned with his name
Friiiiiiiiiiiiiinge!

Spoilers for 4x09, and praise for ALL THE ACTORS! )

Plot & other musings will follow. Hoping this'll kick off some fic-writing too.
Olivia Dunham in her glasses, browsing
In spite of the Bundesliga starting tonight, my veteran colleague and I did manage a little gathering for ye olde Friday Night At The Bar session (the White Wine Edition). And when I say "night", I for once do mean the kind of close-of-business most people in Europe think of: Some colleagues and -- obviously -- I met at 6pm, and afterwards I went home.

...which, with four hours of sleep, wasn't the worst idea. Last mails last night were sent by yours truly at 2:30am, first one this morning at 7:40am. I'll stop whining about it soon, mostly because I doubt the next project of this scope is just around the corner. (Aren't you lucky that way.)

I need to go to bed now, but I want to post icons on this Fringe Friday. Classic conflict.
liv and lincoln being sexy hot dorks
Originally posted by [personal profile] morgandawn at Seems I Am Not The Only One....
......who feels the need to take a break from an increasingly dysfunctional relationship.

Black March - Thursday March 1st 2012 to Saturday March 31st 2012 With the continuing campaigns for internet-censoring litigation such as SOPA and PIPA, and the closure of sites like Megaupload under allegations of 'piracy' and 'conspiracy' the time has come to take a stand against music, film, and media companies' lobbyists. The only way is to hit them where it hurts. Their profit margins. March 2012 is the end of the First Quarter in economic reports world wide. Do not buy a single record. Do not download a single song, legally or illegally. Do not go to see a single film in cinemas, or download a copy. Do not buy a DVD in the stores. Do not buy a videogame. Do not buy a single book or magazine. Wait the four weeks to buy them in April: see a film later, etc... Holding out for just four weeks, maximum, will leave a gaping hole in media companies profits for the first quarter, an economic hit which will in turn be observed by governments world wide as stocks and shares will blip from a large enough loss of incomes. This action will give a statement of intent: "We will not tolerate the Media Industries' lobbying for legislation that will censor the internet."
Original image and campaign source: reddit.

Edited to add, because I'm lazy, [personal profile] alizarin_nyc's thoughts (not part of the original reddit call for action):

"And if you do not feel like taking a total break and perhaps want just a trial separation or couple's counseling, then perhaps consider Black March Lite 2.0 = spend, but spend money on those content creators and independent retailers who came out against SOPA/PIPA.  And tell them why you're buying their products in March.  There are many of them.

And for those who favor the more targeted boycott, you can find info  here.  But no matter which,  you can participate and you can tailor your level of participation.  We have the tools, the will and the strength to take a stand."
Frowny-faced little Blue!verse Lincoln, Amber version, blue background!
I'm home, if connected to my work desktop even though I doubt our Chinese friends will still deliver. Perhaps our Turkish ones will, though (forever my favourites because they managed to make an all-too-apt joke while lauding my work in the process, my own bosses in copy. Well played, sir, well played indeed.)

On to more leisurely things, though, of the Fringe variant:

'rith was liveblogging Fringe 3x08 ''Back To Where You've Never Been'', and me -- well, I add my two cents here. Get them while the Euro still exists, kids.

Also, I read fic that made me happy. Both are Olivia/Lincoln, Blue, Amber!verse:

fits and starts (525 words) by faviconozmissage
Fandom: Fringe
Rating: Mature
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Olivia Dunham/Lincoln Lee
Characters: Olivia Dunham, Lincoln Lee
Summary: At work she doesn’t touch him.

Suits (1968 words) by faviconrainer76
Fandom: Fringe
Rating: Explicit
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Olivia Dunham/Lincoln Lee
Characters: Olivia Dunham, Lincoln Lee

As there is no summary given for this last piece, let me add mine: It's a perfect Lincoln-on-Olivia (not that way; or at least: not only!) that contains Astrid-and-Olivia interaction to die for, plus SCIENCE! I love that SOMEONE remembers what empiricism means; the showrunners sure don't always. *g* Also, hel-lo, the mention of competency kink, where has it been all my life? There's nothing I don't love about her Lincoln here: how his world is tilting on its axis, but he lets it show; they're both comfortable enough with each other, and of course there's Olivia who catches him when he slides down that slope...
lydia with a WTF look on her face, and said caption
Hello, fellow fans!

If you're reading this, chances are good that you're in transformative works fandom. Maybe you're into fanfic, or podfic, or meta. Maybe you are all about the fanart - icons and other graphics. Perhaps you're in vidding fandom or make fanmixes or you cosplay. Maybe you're an archivist or a beta or a roleplayer. Maybe you run landcomms or challenges or memes. Maybe your fandom is Jane Austen, and maybe it's figure skating, and maybe it's whatever TV show your friends wouldn't stop talking about and then you fell for the characters and needed MOAR.

You probably have websites you use for fandom - Livejournal, Dreamwidth, Archive of Our Own, deviantART, Fanfiction.net, Tumblr, Twitter, and more. And your fannish endeavors might very well involve playing in someone else's sandbox; corporations own Buffy Summers and Rodney McKay and Kurt Hummel and Olivia Dunham. We use them, we don't profit from the use, and we're pretty sure nobody's going to mistake an AU J2 big bang fic where they're Cowboys quarterbacks for an episode of Supernatural. But disclaimers aren't good enough for these companies. You know who hates our freedoms? Big media, that's who.

There's censorship a-brewin' in the US. Two bills currently under discussion (SOPA and PIPA) are designed to yank away any website ACCUSED of infringing content (without any kind of due process). We're not just talking about torrent sites; we're talking about anything anyone accuses of being infringement (like say, a vid). We're talking about any site with user-generated content (and therefore LINKS to other stuff) being at risk of being forced offline; like, no more livejournal.com because it might have a link somewhere to filefactory.com. This isn't some Snopes-debunkable chain mail, folks; the internet as we know it is in big trouble.

If you've gone to Google or the English Wikipedia or Boingboing or AO3 today, you'll see what I'm talking about. This is the real deal. We stand together, or we fall together.

If you're in the US, call your congresscritters; Wikipedia has a zip-code lookup to make it easy . If you're not, tell your USian peeps about this, so they can.

Do it for kittens and jet skis and love!











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