Bits and Bobs of Joy

[przed]

I've had a lovely few days, both fannishly and familialy (Is that even a word? I thought not.) So I thought I'd share a bit of the joy.

First, my Ladder of Swords DVD arrived on Friday, from the Danish DVD store recommended by lady_meander. The speed of the shipping almost makes up for the exorbitant shipping fee. (Nearly 6 times the cost of the DVD! Luckily the DVD was cheap.) The film itself looks lovely, though I'm still poking about for a way to turn off the subtitling. Still, I'm very glad to have a replacement for my dodgy VHS copy.

Love the movie, but wow, they could have done a better cover.


The Sweetie saw the DVD lying about, prompting this exchange:

Sweetie: What the heck is this?!
Me: A Martin Shaw movie I love.
Sweetie: What's it about? A bear attack?
Me: He's a circus bear.
Sweetie: And what the heck is Shaw supposed to be? He looks like he wandered out of a bad panto.
Me: He's a circus performer, okay. He's actually pretty gorgegous in most of the movie.
Sweetie: Okaaayyyy. ::backs away slowly:: ::stops:: ::turns:: Ya know how the movie could be better? If Martin Shaw was a panto performer, stuck in the woods. And he was being attacked by a bear. And he had to kill the bear.
Me: ::backs away slowly::

Yeah, the Sweetie is a nut, but he's my nut.


Second, it seems a-ha did an in-depth interview for Q, the CBC Radio arts and culture program. The interview is available to stream here (look for the May 19 file), and is everything I'd hoped for from the band. They're smart, articulate, and clearly kept their heads in the face of both their early fame and their failure to ever crack the North American market properly. My affection for Morten has increased tenfold, knowing how much he despises the fact that he's known in the mainstream media primarily for having a pretty face.

Mind you, that face is rather pretty. Here, have a gratuitous pic of the Toronto a-ha concert:


Actually, have one more, just because I love this shot:



Finally, we've had an especially awesome week with Ros. She's physically growing an insane amount (about 1 cm every 2 weeks), and seems to be growing in maturity by the day. You can have real conversations with her, and she gets way more than I would have expected even a few months ago. And she can just do more stuff. Including operate our real camera, as opposed to the kid digital camera we gave her for her birthday last year. In fact, she's now responsible for one of the best pictures of me and the Sweetie I've ever seen.

I'd love this pic of the two of us anyway, but the fact that Ros took it makes it even more special.



There was also a lovely visit to a park with some uni friends and their kids on Saturday, and a get together with our (sort of) adoption group today, where the kids had a fab time and so did the adults. It doesn't get much better.

Hope everyone else had a similarly awesome weekend.

Comments

[ancastar.livejournal.com]

You guys look awesome! Ros may have found her calling.

And please tell Don I side with him about that hideous DVD cover--and this from someone who knows how freakin' gorgeous MS is in that movie. Bad, bad, BAD cover design.

Someone got paid for that.

::sigh::

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

"Look out! There's a bear behind you!" Erm, yeah, I have to agree with your sweetie here. *g* I'd never pick that up of the DVD shelf, wouldn't even recognize Martin Shaw as I walked right by it. Erm... He sort of looks like Stalin in that picture. Eeek!

Still, fantastic to hear that it's a really good copy as yes, MS is gorgeous in that film.

The Ros snapped piccie is great and of course part of it *is* absolutely down to who you're both smiling at. :D

[nsandik.livejournal.com]

Wow! Great picture of you and the hubby!
Sorry I missed you at Media West. Look at your gorgeous long hair! I do sort of miss the blond pixie look you had a few years ago, but this is really nice, too. ::g:: It sounds like Ros is even more wonderful than you had imagined. See what good parenting can do for a child?

Hugs from Nevada.

[krisserci5.livejournal.com]

You're right. . . . .Ladder of Swords cover is horrid and Ros has a future as a photographer. . .wow, that is actually a great pic. . . how old is she really?. . . . .

[sunray45.livejournal.com]

That is such a ghastly cover for a great vid. Did they want to put people off buying it?!

Oh your little baby! She is growing so fast and seems as if she is very intelligent. It really is a lovely pic of you and your Sweetie. You must get that printed and framed. :)

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

Hate to say it but the Sweetie has a pont there about LoS:-))) And isn't Ros just getting good at photography? Glad to hear you had an awesome, migraine free weekend, hon xxx

photography!Ros

[heliophile-oxon.livejournal.com]

Ros is clearly way better than whoever designed that DVD cover - her subjects look great, whereas the person(s) responsible for the cover actually succeeded in making MS look awful (how is that even possible?!).

The real-conversations stage is really lovely, isn't it! (we're in the unreal-conversations stage here, aka having teenagers - which has its upsides, while being quite ... difficult. I'm not great at the whole letting-go thing, but their dad is worse!). I'm curious - you mentioned that Ros is learning Mandarin (I think?) - are either of you Mandarin speakers, or is it just her? It's a wonderful thing for her future, either way!

[nakeisha.livejournal.com]

Ros took that picture?

That's amazing. You look so happy.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

*waves to P and Sweetie* How cool is that. I've never seen Mr. S before. LOL! You guys are adorable! Isn't it fun now that Ros is getting more user friendly? Really, I loved my kids as babies and through the years, but it's so much fun now that they're grown. We have the best times together. I know women luv babies, but me, I'll take teenagers (yes teenagers) and adult kids any day. Have fun!

It's so great you had a good week. Mine was fine, other than melting here! I made great headway into my S&H story for a zine being published in October. It's my first long (big bang size!) S&H so it's been fun writing it. Actually, this is the first rewrite after the editor sent it back with major suggestions, which were spot on.

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

Yay for Roz! That is a fantastic photo, but gosh she is growing up so fast! It's funny how each individual day seems to be long, but they go by so very quickly.

It sounds like a fantastic weekend, all told. But, um, yeah...that DVD cover is, well, scary comes to mind. *g*

Here's to awesome weekends!

[inlovewithboth.livejournal.com]

I missed the original post about this, could you possibly give me the details of where you got the DVD from? Oh, to have a good copy of this film.....sigh.....

[saintvic.livejournal.com]

Ya know how the movie could be better? If Martin Shaw was a panto performer, stuck in the woods. And he was being attacked by a bear. And he had to kill the bear.
Y'know I'd watch that movie as well *g*

Fantastic picture of the two of you and it really sounds as though Ros is growing up very fast indeed.

[squeeful.livejournal.com]

Awwww, you're so tiny and cute!

But that DVD cover...what else can you say about something as horrible as that?