So I'm trying to lose about 30 - 40 lbs over the summer before I start my second year at Uni because I'm SICK of being the fat friend. So far I've lost around 8lbs. The food is going really well, surprisingly, but the exercise not so much. I haven't really bonded with the gym. So I'm going to give exercise DVDs a go. So...

Does anyone have any suggestions for exercise DVDs? I don't really have any preferences so far- yoga, aerobics....whatever works. I'd prefer one that helps with weight loss, but anything that's a good work out.  

Holy Shitballs, they've won another one. Nick Griffin goes to Strasbourg. A dark day for the UK.  

 Bad news from the UK, folks- the British National Party has won their first seat in the EU elections. The results are still coming in and there is a reasonably good chance that they'll win another in the North West. For those unfamiliar with the BNP, this is a party which runs campaigns of thinly-veiled racism. Their party constitution forbids non-whites from joining their party. Their leader, Nick Griffin, has been tried a couple of times on charges of incitement of racial hatred. This is bad news, folks. The main parties are going to have to seriously address the issue of immigration from both within and outside the EU if they hope to stamp on this repugnant party. 


Moving off the topic of racist douchebags, Labour is taking the expected trouncing in some areas and is expected to come in 3rd place, behind the Tories and UKIP (annoying Euroskeptics). Labour lost Wales to the Tories by a reasonable margin- this is the first time that the Tories have won the popular vote in Wales in any election since 1918. Labour are soooooooooooo fucked. Gordon Brown is soooooooo fucked. The predicted overall results for Labour are even worse than previously thought- as low as 16%.

I can't help but feel that if politicians and political commentators hadn't been so quick and vocal in saying that people would turn to the BNP in the wake of the expenses scandal, then the BNP turnout wouldn't have been so high. The BNP got a huge amount of free publicity, with members of the main parties saying "OK, you're pissed at us, but whatever you do; don't vote BNP." Their public profile was increased hugely on important fora such as Questiontime and some people, I believe, voted BNP because they were being urged not to by Labour and the Tories. I'm not saying this was the only reason, by any means, but I think it helped the BNP quite a lot. 

Oh Lordy. I realise that admitting to watching Big Brother in this day and age is akin to admitting that your greatest ambition in life is to marry a footballer who can keep you in diamante and botox, but I have to ask- UK folks, did anyone else watch the BB Launch? Woo boy, how low have they sunk? With the crates and whatnot. Beyond desperation. BUT...........how cute is Rodrigo?! Cute, bisexual, Brazilian Rodrigo. I shall perv on you greatly this summer. Also, points for Charlie, the other gay boy in the house, who's opening words in his interview were, "I haven't got a nasty bone in my body.....except the one that was in my boyfriend last night!" Crude, but funny.

On an unrelated note- too much wine, Georgia, too much wine. 

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8082250.stm


Nicely done New Hampshire! 6 states are now putting California to shame. 

 

Umm, I need some advice from the old flist. After years of being a fandom leech with the occasional foray into betaing/britpicking, I'm actually attempting to contribute to fandom by writing my very first fic. But I can't seem to start. This may sound stupid, but I have ideas and I'll outline a vague plot and then (as this usually seems to happen at night) toddle off happily to bed. The next day I'll come back to it and just have no idea where to start. Or I'll have decided the plot is shit. Or I'll try and expand the plot and get caught up in endless uturns and twists and stuff. I can't seem to get to the real writing. So I need some advice, because there are some truly brilliant writers on my flist. How do you approach writing a fic? Can you see what I'm doing wrong from that brief description? Am I overthinking it? Do I need to plan more or less before I start? I realise this is probably a very subjective process, but I'd love to hear how you lot go about it. 

Hola, folks. Sooooo, this registering to vote business- is it new? I swear I didn't have to register last time. Also, today is the deadline. I have printed out the form. The form has today's date on it. The form will not reach the registration office for another 2 days. Too late? Also, seeing as I voted and was apparently therefore registered for the last local elections, do I need to re-register? Seems unreasonable to me. I haven't moved or anything. God, this is so embarrassing- I'm a bloody politics student, I should have this election business down by now! 

So, call me dumb but I'm having some problems understanding exactly what this steampunk business really means. As far as I can gather, it's fiction set in the past, usually Victorian times, but with some modern technology included. Someone referred to the Northern Lights (Golden Compass to Americans) as steampunk. I always just considered it to be an alternate reality where some technology had developed differently, and so there society emphasised different methods of functioning than ours does. Like Zepellins and Naphtha lamps instead of planes and electric light. Does this make it steampunk or not? When Dr Who goes back to the Victorian times, is that steampunk? HELP ME, I'M SO CONFUSED.

Guys! I just spent the weekend with my aunt and cousin and found out my cousin is a slasher! I walked past him when he was on his laptop and I could see what looked like fic on his screen. He blustered a bit, but then his laptop froze and I was able to acertain that he is a Blake/Leighton shipper. A bit of research has yielded that he is into Gossip Girl femmeslash. Wouldn't be my fandom of choice but whatev. I totally wanted to bond with him over it but I chickened out a bit. If I were him and one of my cousins read fic over my shoulder, I'd freak out. I think he was relying on the fact that I wouldn't read what looked like plain uninteresting text on his screen or by familiar with lj comms and their names. But really, it was called bleighton_squee. As if I wouldn't recognise him as one of my brethren. It's weird though, I always suspected his mum of being a bit of a slasher, not him. They have a Sugar Rush box set and a QAF UK boxset sitting side by side on their dvd shelf. Maybe they're both slashers! A den of slashers, hidden away within my own, fairly conservative extended family! What a fucking coup! 

Hi thar.

Just wondering if anyone on the old flist has seen Waiting For Godot? It's got Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in it. I just bought a couple of tickets for my parents' birthdays and I'm hoping they'll like it, considering the dent it just put in my bank account. It should be good, right? Can't really go wrong with Ian McKellen. 

I feel the need to spread the word about Florence and the Machine. If you haven't heard of her, she's AMAZING. She's got a gorgeous voice and she also seems like just one of those really cool people. This was her first single Dog Days Are Over and it's just....uplifting and big and awesome. Her album comes out this summer and I guarantee you she will become the queen of the British music scene. This isn't the actual video, I suspect couldn't find it coz of those rubbish new UK Youtube copyright rules. If you can find it, the real video is well worth checking out coz it's her being cool in the woods and it's very colourful and dreamy. So check her out and enjoy, because she will make your life that little bit better!








 

Now, I'm not usually into the BMX-stunt-trick type bike stuff. But this guy is crazy good. Definitely worth checking out. Also, it gives a nice bike tour of some of Edinburgh, including my glorious Uni.



 

Just finished Shadow of the Templar. Woo boy, how good was that one?! One thing that struck me was how emphatically male the author managed to keep Jeremy and Simon all the way through. Which is harder than you'd think, as I'm just discovering with my own budding fictional efforts. If I'd been writing it, I'm sure Jeremy would have burst into tears half way through, telling Simon that he was a mean, mean man and he hated his stupid face. Simon would also have declared his ardent love at least a hundred times during the course of the novels, complete with overblown coming out scene in front of the whole team. Which, you know, would have made it suck. Except I kind of still crave reading the team's reaction to Simon's revelation. Also I was gagging for some more porn in it. But then, I'm always gagging for more porn.

The original fic bug has officially bitten. Next stop; Administration. I'm a little reticent about this one though. It seems darker than my normal fare. Dystopia doesn't really do it for me. I couldn't go near hp_darkfest. The only darkfic I read is frayach 's, and that's only because she got me hooked before I realised how dark some of her writing turned out. Maybe I'll leave it for a bit. Except I hear there is exceptional porn in that one. Choices, choices.

Also, is it an unwritten rule that all original gay internet fiction must contain a character called Bran? It's gotten so serious that I've had to change one of my imaginary future children's names to Bran. Hopefully he won't end up as a sex slave. Unless he wants to. Cat burglar would be kind of cool, though. And yes, I am the kind of 20 year old loser that has already named any children I might have in the future. Deal. 

My love affair with Dave Grohl has been longlasting and oh so sweet. I have loved this man since I was 12 years old and seen him in concert 5 times. My love for Dave and the Foos predates my interest in politics, in fandom, in slash, in gay rights. I'm the loser at the Foos shows who points at the stage during My Hero. AND THAT IS BECAUSE HE IS MADE OF AWESOME!!!

Looky what Dave did-

http://uk.eonline.com/uberblog/b98988_Foo_Fighers__Dave_Grohl__White_Knot_For_Gay_Marriage.html
 

Add Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl to the list of straight celebrities coming out to support gay marriage.

The singer is one of the first in Hollywood to start wearing a white ribbon as a show of same-sex solidarity.

“Anybody know about whiteknot.org?” Grohl asked on the red carpet at last night’s MusiCares benefit and tribute to Neil Diamond. “You know what that’s about? It's I believe in love and I believe in equality and I believe in marriage equality.



God, I love this man.

Woah, how awesome is Criminal Minds?! How have I only just discovered this gem of a show? 6 episodes in and I've already hit the fanfic- Morgan/Reid all the way, baby!

Stealing this from libby_drew</lj>  (hope you don't mind!). I don't live in California, I'm not gay, and yet I care a huge amount about this issue and this video goes a long way to explaining why. I realise I'm preaching to the choir here, but hey! It's an important message and a cute video, and the more it's seen, the better.


In other news, I'm at Uni with one of my best friends from school (all girls boarding school). We were once sort of together. A girl from our old school turned up at our Uni to visit her boyfriend and told a friend of ours that we were together at school. I SPOKE TO THIS GIRL MAYBE TWICE IN 5 YEARS. How the hell did she know? My best friend didn't know! It was an extremely well-kept secret. Fortunately, neither of our reputations will really suffer, as we're already a little infamous for being....welll....omnisexual sluts is probably the main public opinion.

Oh good Lord. Someone told Frankie Boyle about slash. He talks about finding Frankie Boyle/Hugh Dennis slash at about 22.45. I find it so unnerving when slash makes it to the mainstream media. I was screaming at the screen-

"First rule of fandom, Frankie; YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT FANDOM!"

Can anyone think of other instances when celebrities draw attention to fandom? In a way I found it kind of cool, but for the most part really don't think we need the media attention and condemnation of, you know, normal people.

So, who's seen the new Boyzone video?

All the boys being lovey dovey with (I imagine) their partners including Stephen Gately and his boyfriend! Just too cute for words. There is nuzzling. And teh ghey being treated as normal and unremarkable when next to 4 straight couples.

Boyzone rock so hard.

........
.......
.......
.......

Ok, that's a lie, but they're super cute!

ETA- not their partners, just actors. Still, pretty awesome.

In umm.... 8 minutes I will officially have missed my first university essay deadline. I am so not cool. I have an almost pathological need to do no work when I need to most. I suck so hard. I have been procrastinating my pants off for a week. And get this. I have another assignment in for tomorrow. That one won't be on time either. Bad thing is, I know what the penalty is for this one. The other subject is suspiciously silent on the matter of lateness penalties. I hope that doesn't mean they just give you 0. Oh shit.  I am so screwed. Anyone feel like giving me an opinion on what makes an effective chief executive?

Fandomers in Edinburgh? Anyone? I've just moved here and wondered if any of my flist live in/near Edinburgh. Or know any fandomers in the Burgh.

That is all!