The Cult of Lincoln

Friday, February 27, 2009



This afternoon, I went to the Doctor Who NY meetup. They hold two meetups per month: a pub meetup for booze and conversation, and a "video" meetup for watching of classic episodes. This month was a tribute to the third Doctor, and we watched "Terror of the Autons." It was cool to see an instance of how the old school monsters were resurrected for the new series. I also got to chat with some fun folks about costuming. Yay for getting out of my apartment!

Heading over, on my way out the door, I tucked my copy of The Name of the Wind in my purse. I finished Barrayar the night before last, and Watchmen is too big to fit without shoving, and I wasn't about to risk damaging a copy signed by Dave Gibbons. NotW has been on my mind a lot recently, and even though it's no longer coming out April 7th, I decided to go forward with the reread as scheduled.

Good lord, I'd forgotten how much I love this book. I remember loving it, but getting that thrill of readerly intrigue at the end of the prologue--every bit as effective the second time around--reminded me of exactly why this story kept me spellbound for a week. Looking back, I'm amazed I managed to drag it out that long, despite my slightly mad work schedule. I was caught in a bizarre tango of savoring and devouring. I wanted to forgo sleep and ignore my job and just keep reading, but I also wanted to ration it, because when it was gone, it was gone. I knew the sequel wouldn't be coming any time soon, and the author hadn't written anything else in that vein. It was my favourite book I read last year.

Even though I've "known" for ages, but it's still somewhat disheartening to see it in writing: yes, the sequel to The Name of the Wind has been delayed. It was originally slated for April 7th, the same day as Jim Butcher's Turn Coat, and watching Jim barely scoot under the publication deadline while Pat continued to blog about writing and revising, writing and revising, the frustrating reality set in.

I'm glad Pat is taking the time to get the book right, though. The last thing I want to see is the sequel getting rushed out the door before Pat is satisfied. I'll happily wait another year or longer to have another experience like that I had reading NotW. For now, I'll savor my reread!

It's kind of odd, though. Last year, after I finished NotW, I was at a loss as to what to read next. What could follow it? Finally, I picked up Bujold's The Warrior's Apprentice, the first book I read in that series. As I mentioned earlier in this post, I just finished Barrayar, my last book. Funny that such an awesome novel would bookend such an awesome series for me.

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Priscilla said at 10:50 AM

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Saturday, February 14, 2009



I need to get back in the swing of blogging. The sheer length of time I've gone on Twitter alone is unspeakably lame, and friends and family alike are becoming increasingly frustrated with the prolonged string of half-indecipherable, 140-character hints of what's going on in my life. So here's what's been going on lately!

Work: A couple weeks ago, I was moved to the back room. While it's tragic that I am no longer sitting near Tommy, an endless fountain of amusing non-sequiturs, I am now blessed with WINDOWS. My stir-craziness factor has diminished significantly. The windows look out onto the uninterrupted brick siding of another building some twelve feet away, but I nevertheless revel in the occasional birds, diffused sunlight, and glimpses at the actual weather conditions my beloved window offers.

The reason for the move is to reflect a change in the structure of the company. We now have a separate Asset Department responsible for characters and props. Previously, animators were responsible for making their own props. Character folks (like me) have always been separate. Once the few hiccups are ironed out, it looks like this system is going to be a lot more efficient. Yay efficiency!

I have also been named Texture Tsar (okay, that's the name I made up, but it's more fun that Textures Lead or whatever the official title was), so I'm getting tasked with occasional opportunities to step out of Character Land and do some serious Making Stuff Pretty. Yay variety! And as far as the characters go, we're in the process of bringing their quality up another notch, as well. I'm very pleased with the direction we're going!


Litra-chur: My beloved Kat, who has exquisite taste, has finally pushed me over the tipping point with regard to Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan saga. She lent me the first omnibus at the end of last summer, which I read at a snail's pace despite my enjoyment of the stories, but only recently did I delve headfirst into the series. I got the rest of the books in audio format and plowed through nine books and three novellas in the past 2 1/2 weeks. I'm almost nervous to start the final book, because I'll once again be faced with the dilemma of what to read next.

I can feel myself getting sucked into the Reread Rut, as I'd like to reread Princeps' Fury to refresh my beta-memory as Jim pens First Lord's Fury, and I'm thinking a reread of Watchmen is in order before the movie comes out, and I definitely want to reread The Name of the Wind before its sequel hits stores on April 7th, and gah. I can't let myself get boxed in with rereads! Gotta discover something new!


Fandom: This past weekend, I went to New York Comic Con. I had a fantastic time! Friday night, I assembled a crowd of folks from the Jim-Butcher.com forum for dinner at Brother Jimmy's BBQ, which was quite a hit! In attendance were my forum/IRL hybrid friends Craig, Shecky, and Sue, plus forum members Mark and Allison, a fantastic Harry cosplayer I met at San Diego Comic Con named Matt, and Matt's friend Jerry. The Dabel Brothers crew was going to join us, but they had some last-minute business that ran long, so they were only able to stop by a few minutes. Afterwards, we huddled in Penn Station, dodging zambonis and homeless people, for a reading of the first chapter of Turn Coat. It was a great start for a delightfully geeky weekend!

Saturday, I donned my Molly costume and hooked up with RPG pal John to meander about the con. We first checked out a fight choreography demo by the Vampire Cowboys, a theatre troupe that performs original, cross-genre plays with a strong stage combat element. I saw their previous show, Fight Girl Battle World, twice last year, and I can't wait for the opening of their newest creation, Soul Samurai! I'll have to get a big group together.

Afterward, John and I did some browsing/people watching as we waited for the others from the previous night's group to arrive. I stopped by the Penguin table to chat with Anne Sowards, Jim's editor, who gave me a bunch of Dresden buttons to give away on the website. I'll have to figure out a fun way to determine who gets them! Meanwhile, John geeked out at the neighboring booth, belonging to Phil Foglio, when a group of fans arrived in glorious Girl Genius cosplay.

We then swung by the Comic News Insider booth, in hopes of seeing Kristin and Jimmy. Jimmy is one of the co-hosts of the show, and Kristin had volunteered to booth babe for a time, but Kristin had something far more nefarious up her sleeve! At cons, Jimmy makes a point of dressing in pinstriped vests, going so far as to accuse those similarly attired of "stealing his look." Because we are pure evil, Kristin and I conspired to dress Kristin in Jimmy's con uniform. Unfortunately, Jimmy wasn't there at the time, but I got to greet Kristin and admire her uncanny resemblance to the absent friend.

Next, John and I stopped by the DoctorWhoStore.com booth, where 6th Doctor Colin Baker was wrapping up his signing. I snagged one of the Big Finish audios for my Who-obsessed friend Kat, autographed by the good Doctor himself, and got a picture with him, in which he looks like my cute grandpa. After Colin finished, Doctor Who comics scribe Tony Lee took the autographing table, and I got a few issues of the serial signed as we chatted. I'd gotten to meet him and hang out briefly at the CNI recording a few days prior, and we'd hit it off rather well. It was fun to see him again.

John and I also spent some time dawdling around the Pendragon booth, where Matt, Jerry, and Matt's girlfriend Nicole were working. Nicole's creations were flat-out gorgeous, and over the course of the day, I tried on two of the Renaissance dresses and a woman's leather duster. You bet your sweet bippy I took pictures! I feel in love with one of them, but I didn't know if I wanted to spend so much on a dress I'd only wear a couple times a year, so I elected to hold off and think about it overnight. Soon, Craig, Shecky, and Sue appeared, and we all trooped off to grab a late lunch.

The afternoon was filled with a performance by the New York Jedi, lots and lots of aimless ambling about the exhibit hall, and some chillage with the Dabel folks. Matt joined us for much of it. I finally got to meet Dresden GN editor David Lawrence in person, and he loaded me up with a bunch of Dabel comics and goodies. We swung back by the Penguin booth and chanced to run into Amber Benson, who played Tara on Buffy. We had a brief conversation, and I snagged a photo with her. What an unexpected surprise!

Toward the end of the evening, we walked by the DC booth and saw Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons signing posters. There was no way we could get through the line by closing time, so we resolved to bring our copies of Watchmen the next day to be signed then. Finally, we bade farewell to Sue, Shecky, and John, who were only at the con for the day.

Sunday morning was a source of great amusement. I awoke to find a pair of text messages on my phone, one drunken missive timestamped around 3am, waxing lyrical on my finer attributes, and another around 8, apologizing profusely. I will not disclose the identity of said individual, because I am not a cruel person, but suffice it to say, it was hilarious.

Dressed as Delirium, I high-tailed it to the IGN Theatre, where a line was already forming for Joss Whedon's Dollhouse panel two hours before showtime. Because it was painfully obvious what we were all there to see, they con staff either canceled or moved the MegaMan panel that was to be held before it. In line, I met up with Craig, Kristin, Adam (host of the weekly Pushing Daisies viewing parties, back when that was applicable), and fellow NYC Browncoats Kathleen, Simon, and Gypsy.

The panel was a delight. Though I'd met Nathan Fillion at SDCC and Amber Benson the day before, I'd never before seen a panel with any Whedon alumni, and here was Joss himself! Also present was Tahmoh Penikett, aka Helo on BSG, and Matt Rousch of TV Guide. The program reported that Eliza Dushku and Dichen Lachman were also supposed to be in attendance, but any disappointment was more than compensated for when Joss revealed the first act of the Dollhouse pilot, which looked fabulous. I can't wait for Friday's premiere!

By that point, the con was nearly over, but I still managed to squeeze in some last-minute awesomeness. An hour before it was slated to start, we staked on spots in line for the Dave Gibbons signing. We befriended another line-waiter, who volunteered to save out spots in line so we could enjoy ourselves for said hour, and went off in search of last-minute fun. We returned to Pendragon to poke Matt, and I saw that the dress I'd fallen in love with the previous day had been sold. Guess that made my decision for me! I'm glad such a lovely dress is getting a good home.

We returned to the Gibbons table with ten minutes to spare and found an utter mob scene. The line snaked around itself four deep! They were processing fans ASAP, so there was no time for conversation with the man, but it was still cool to see him in person and get his signature in my copy of Watchmen.

And that was it! I was rather stunned toward the end to realize that I only attended a single panel, as I'd meticulously planned out a schedule for myself ahead of time, but when it came down to it, spending time with my friends felt like a much higher priority. I feel like a Lifetime movie. And now I can't wait for ConDFW the 20th-22nd!


And that's all I have to say about that for the moment. Hopefully, now that I've gotten that off my chest, I'll be able to go back to blogging about silly things?

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Priscilla said at 1:25 AM

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Saturday, August 09, 2008



Sarah links me to the first-ever Time Lord Rock song: An Awful Lot of Running!

Kat and I have decided that for the two days I am in DC, we will form a trock band called "Rude and Not Ginger." Epic nerd win!

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Priscilla said at 11:29 AM

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Tuesday, June 24, 2008



I left work at 12:15 last night, but I impulsively stayed up late and watched the pilot of The Middleman, which was ridiculously fun. It has early cancellation written all over it, but I plan to enjoy the heck out of it as long as it lasts! It's a deliciously quirky, self-aware show about an art school graduate who is recruited by a secret agency to fight against evil forces. Her square-jawed employer is best summarized as Captain Carrot working for the Men in Black. In one scene, he beats up a mob boss between taking long drinks of milk.

I'm not quite sure what age group it's intended for, which is one of the reasons I'm so convinced it's doomed to be prematurely canceled. With its light tone and goofy comic book stylings (not to mention its slot on ABC Family), one might think it was intended for young teens, but some of the content surprised me. There are comments about the heroine, Wendy, being a "beard" for her film student boyfriend, a running joke about cursing (which is bleeped out with a little black rectangle over the person's mouth), and pop-culture references I wouldn't expect tweens to get, such as Wendy's cry of "Get your filthy paws off of me you damn dirty ape" when being dragged away as a hostage by a genetically engineered, super intelligent gorilla.

I don't know. Maybe it's intended specifically for me!

So check it out. This show is pure, unadulterated fun! If you don't believe me, check out this glowing review from the New York Times. If you have ABC Family, it's on Mondays at 8/7c. If you don't, it's on BitTorrent iTunes.


In other news: Wave 4 of the Doctor Who action figures includes a 6" Doctor with five Adipose, due to hit stores late July. If the Beeb can't cough up a plushie Adipose, this would make an absolutely delightful addition to my desk diorama!

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Priscilla said at 11:07 AM

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Tuesday, May 20, 2008



Tonight, I'm taking a bus to D.C. for a spontaneous day trip! As tomorrow's weather looks ominous, I'm planning to take the MUSEUMS! route rather than the MONUMENTS! route. Fred has been gathering recommendations here. So far, the International Spy Museum is sounding the most appealing, but I am also drawn to the Mall's sheer concentration of awesome museums. I'll have to research more this afternoon.

To catch up on my blogging: Friday night, I went on a date that included food and an Improv Everywhere event. Alex and I were both excited about it, but the event ended up crashing and burning. The idea was cool, but it was raining, and the IE folks had difficulty coordinating everything, and we ended up standing out in the rain and wind with an inadequate umbrella on the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge for an hour and a half. My light jacket wasn't really up for the chore. And the umbrella broke from the wind ten minutes before we left, so we got soaked. When I got home and saw myself in the mirror, my skin was bloodless white. I looked like a consumptive waif. I had to sit in a hot bath for twenty minutes before I felt like a human again.

Yet shockingly, I had a great time. The dinner beforehand was excellent (Thai!), and conversation was fun. We're never short of fodder for discussion, and he's just the right amount of geeky that I feel neither like a hopeless dork nor somehow inadequate in my geekishness. And Saturday, Alex is going to cook dinner for me, so I call this major win. :D


Linkspam:

Obama Adopted into Crow Nation. I. Love. This. Man. Can he be my president RIGHT NOW?

Steven Moffat to be Doctor Who Lead Writer and Executive Producer! YEEE!

Two new videos from Potter Puppet Pals!

Cover for Pterry's upcoming Nation!

Awesome photo series of Children's Drawings Brought to Life

Ben Stein: Science Kills. Good thing religion has never killed anyone, am I right?

Pretty sweet: Animatic version of the first issue of Joss' "Astonishing X-Men."

Excellent article: Your Friends Are Not Watching the Same Show You Are (And That's Okay).

And a new FotC music video.

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Priscilla said at 1:54 PM

1 comments


Sunday, May 18, 2008



Neil Gaiman, like Kat, is awesome.
I know that David Tennant's Hamlet isn't till July. And lots of people are going to be doing Dr Who in Hamlet jokes, so this is just me getting it out of the way early, to avoid the rush...


"To be, or not to be, that is the question. Weeelll.... More of A question really. Not THE question. Because, well, I mean, there are billions and billions of questions out there, and well, when I say billions, I mean, when you add in the answers, not just the questions, weeelll, you're looking at numbers that are positively astronomical and... for that matter the other question is what you lot are doing on this planet in the first place, and er, did anyone try just pushing this little red button?"


There. Thanks. Sorry about that.
I heard David Tennant's voice in my head. Can Neil write an episode, please? Pretty please? DEAR GOD please?

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Priscilla said at 9:15 AM

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Friday, April 18, 2008



Welcome to Things I Can't Believe I Haven't Blogged About!
  • My parents came to town this past weekend. A splendid time was had by all, and now my room finally looks like someone actually lives there! Huzzah!
  • Friday night, I took my parents and my aunt to see Curtains, which was all kinds of fun. Boo to the haters!
  • Sunday morning, we participated in this Obama event. T'was fun! We were all part of the first A. Some photos on the event's facebook site: Mah Daddy! And big panorama: I'm just to the left of center (hurr!), in a red sweater. The video should be up later today. I'll post it when it becomes available.
  • Got a ticket to Flight of the Conchords! Envy me!
  • The first Dresden Files comic came out Wednesday, and it's AWESOME. I could get a sense of how it would work earlier on, reading the script alongside looking at the images, but it's somehow a completely different experience to see it all put together. It's a really solid piece of work, and I'm so thrilled to be involved in the project! I can definitely see it drawing new fans in, and the existing fans will love it.
  • YAY. A mixup on Wednesday that had the potential to get very ugly was resolved yesterday with minimal drama and fuss. What a relief!


Stuff that is Great:

Upcoming Awesomeness from Disney/Pixar, in further detail!

J.K. Rowling and the Courtroom of Muggles

Brian Dettmer: insanely creative and gorgeous book autopsies

Makani finished her gorgeous Deathly Hallows illustration of Bella about to Sweeney Hermione.

Scoop on upcoming Tori Amos comic

Near-Impossible Mario Hack

Doctor Who April Fools' Joke

Adipose Plushie! I want one! It and Squidaped Oyt can be BFFs.

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Priscilla said at 11:41 AM

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Thursday, November 08, 2007



Doctor Who Series 3 Deleted Scenes: 23 Rules for Martha, Without the Fast-Forwarding

David Tennant, please father my children.

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Priscilla said at 6:34 PM

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Friday, November 02, 2007



Oh my good lord. Anyone that has seen even a single episode of Torchwood needs to read Torchwood Babiez, right now. Too much cute, liver shutting down...

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Priscilla said at 3:05 PM

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Monday, July 02, 2007



I'm amazed. The season finale of Doctor Who makes even less sense than this picture. And that's no sense at all.

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Priscilla said at 1:26 AM

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Thursday, June 14, 2007



So! Back from the Sappy Lincoln Narratives Road Trip of Win and Awesome, now organizing my hundreds of photographs, attempting to chronicle two and a half weeks of amazement, and packing for New York. My job starts Monday, and I'm heading out Sunday morning! Maaaaaadness. In the meantime, here, have a massive picspam of David Tennant with a bunch of kittens.

How are all of you?

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Priscilla said at 4:14 PM

2 comments


Wednesday, April 25, 2007



Aaaand I'm now writing my Psych paper on Buffy. I believe this nicely rounds out my Fandom in Academia series:

Freshman Year:
  • Visual Communications -- Lord of the Rings. Comparative visual analysis of equivalent scenes in two film versions of "Return of the King."
  • Digital Design Foundations -- Sandman. Reinterpretation of The Endless in my "Sandman Series." In this class, I also did designs inspired by Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks and Ender's Game.
Sophomore Year:
  • Copyright and Culture -- Harry Potter. Discussion of legal implications for different types of fan art (focusing on the Harry Potter fandom)
  • 3D Computer Modeling -- The Nightmare Before Christmas and Star Wars. I modeled an environment from TNMBC and an Imperial walker from Star Wars. Also a creature based on the Jabberwock, but I'm not exactly in the Lewis Carroll fandom.
  • Networked Life -- Buffy, sort of. We were supposed to create a network of absolutely anything, so created a network of Buffy guest actors, linked based on if they'd appeared in an episode together. I ended up discussing the arc structure of Buffy a bit in my analysis of the shape of the graph, but it wasn't really about Buffy itself.
Junior Year:
  • Film History -- Star Wars. The impact of the original Star Wars trilogy on the special effects industry.
  • Virtual World Design -- Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. Created a video game set in an environment based on an image from The Wolves in the Walls.
Senior Year:
  • Feminist Fairy Tales -- Terry Pratchett. Theories of Revision in Tepper’s Beauty and Pratchett’s Witches Abroad. (We read the book in class, mind you!)
  • Film Analysis and Methods -- Firefly/Serenity. Comparison of themes of "otherness" in Serenity and The Searchers
  • Science and Literature -- Doctor Who. Senior Year, Empathy with aliens in War of the Worlds, Ender's Game, and DW 1x06 "Dalek."
  • And now: Psychology of Judgments and Decisions -- Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The indirectness bias in "The Gift" and other episodes.
Why yes, I am awesome. I accept your love and I return it.

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Priscilla said at 1:06 PM

6 comments


Thursday, April 19, 2007



My Sci-Fi final paper is due in 15 hours, and I just changed my topic. Why do I hate myself?

Though I must say, it's a lot easier to write when you switch from Out of the Silent Planet, Red Planet, and Ender's Game to War of the Worlds, Ender's Game, and an episode of Doctor Who.

It's my last paper as an undergrad. I'll write about whatever the heck I feel like for my third source, thank you very much! We just have to pick one book from the first half of the semester, one book from the second half, and the third can be absolutely anything. I've heard that other students are writing about Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, and Doctor Who, and one girl was considering writing about the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, so I feel justified. I'll have to get the full list of non-class material written about in these papers from my TA.

*blasts "Doctorin' the TARDIS" in the privacy of my headphones*

Edit: Done at 10 AM, with two hours to go! I even got 4 1/2 hours of sleep out of the deal! WIN! God bless the miracle of e-texts, which allow me to find the quotes I need with minimal fuss.

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Priscilla said at 8:58 PM

2 comments


Saturday, March 31, 2007



*blasts "Doctorin' the TARDIS" obnoxiously*

Doctor Who is back, and OMG SO MUCH LOVE! Can I marry Ten and have seven thousand of his human/Timelord hybrid babies? Or if not, can I at least marry his hair?


Oh, and:

Dear All Writers Ever,

Adults are 15 compressions to 2 breaths. Children are 5 compressions to 1 breath. If you're going to write CPR, get it right already! It's not hard! Has there ever been a TV show to get this right, EVER?

Love,
Priscilla

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Priscilla said at 10:21 PM

5 comments


Tuesday, January 30, 2007



Heroes. "Fantastic," Doctor Scruffy? Fantastic indeed!

And Studio 60, "special guest Masi Oka" does not mean "Masi Oka is in this episode for three seconds, just repeating the same line." He'd better be in the second half of the episode, or I will have Words with your promo department. HEY, that wasn't a perfect analogy to one of the plot threads for last night's episode, was it? Because then I'd have to laugh, then punch Aaron Sorkin in the face. :D

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Priscilla said at 1:40 AM

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All content © 2000-2005 Priscilla Spencer unless otherwise noted.
Title cartoon by Bruce Eric Kaplan, used without permission.

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