As you might know, I've spent some ten days in the South of France, the Cévennes/Aveyron/Hérault/Gard area lately (The Collias/Pont du Gare-area to be exact), where - among other activities, including long-distance hiking, canoeing, and yes - even some construction work at my boyfriend's dad's home in Collias - I did a bit of birdwatching along the river Le Gardon, and here are some pictures of some of the birds I saw over there...
(NB: these pictures are not made by me, but just to give you an idea of what can be seen over there).


European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster)
( More after the cut... Worship Teh Beauty! (- NB: Not Dial-Up friendly) )

It's not that I didn't make any pictures myself... here's a bit of The Animal Kingdom that I managed to catch with my camera myself.


Baby swallows! In the LOO at the camping, no less... :-D
( MORE beautiful and sweet animals, crappy piccies, LOL... )

That's just the Animal Beauty to be seen over there. Next up: the River Gardon environment, which is truly breathtaking.

I think I now know where I want to live when I get older. ;-)

Apparently this week was the start of the Festival of Tell Meghan She's Not Good Enough and Not Welcome. Did anyone else get a flyer on this? I'm curious if it was just the past week or if I can expect it to last the rest of the summer?

Title: Chapter Seventeen Remix
Author: abrandnewboom
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Any mention of 'Stormbreaker’, 'Alex Rider', any associated entites, or any copyrighted material pertaining therein is reasonably protected by the Fair Use Rule of the United States Copyright Act of 1976, and is not intended to infringe upon any copyrighted material.
Pairing: Yassen/Alex
Spoilers: Literally set in Chaper 17 of Stormbreaker/the last few scenes of the movie.
Wordcount: 1423
Warnings: Porn. Underage??? OH NO, OF COURSE NOT. Non con??? AHAHA WHEN HAVE I EVER DONE THAT? (Except in like ever other fic I have ever released.)
Summary: The missing scene from Stormbreaker: Chapter 17. AHORZ is careless sometimes, and loses these fragments. Yassen/Alex slash. Helipad pron.
Author's Notes: I’m really really sorry. I tried so hard not to write Stormbreaker era slash, really I did. I stuck to that three-years-later rule like a total hardass! But it got me. It snuck right up. And yes, there is a soundtrack in my lj.

( He struggled to pull away, wrenching his head to the side, breathing heavily. 'What the hell are you doing?' Alex said, half furious at the further invasion of his personal space, and half dazed by the hot blow of Yassen’s breath on his cheek. )

Chapter Seventeen Remix
Stormbreaker: Yassen Gregorovich/Alex Rider

Medium: Books/Film
Fandom: Alex Rider/Stormbreaker
Subject: Stormbreaker: Chapter Seventeen
Title: Chapter Seventeen Remix
Notes: Associated with a dodgy fic. Every song file should show up with its own reference picture as album art once it's in iTunes or whatever. >D


Chapter 17 of Stormbreaker...the one which left you hanging...

( Covers )
( Tracklist & Downloads )

I was told to go watch Wicked - Defying Gravity, specifically - on YouTube. I may have gone a bit beyond that.






Bonus! If you go to YouTube, you can find longer clips from other shows on the tour, but they weren't embeddable.


BTW, Act 2 of Dr. Horrible went up yesterday, and it pretty much takes the awesome of Act 1 and triples it. "Brand New Day" is a frickin' total win song, I lurves it. I can't wait for the conclusion tomorrow! I can't wait until the soundtrack comes out! Yippee!

Meghan's* DVD player: spinning a Buffy S2 DVD
Meghan's* TV: Showing a visual representation of the information on the DVD
Meghan's Mom: Angel is in this?**


*For the purposes of this anecdote.
**To be fair, she did know that Angel was a spin-off from Buffy, she just wasn't sure at what point in the series the character had been introduced.***
***Which would be the pilot.

Probably I should eat?

But I just don't have the energy.

Well then, I saw them performing at both Hellfest AND at Bospop, in only three weeks time. And quite a lot to follow, I ensure you....

Opeth - ah, their Master String Lord AND vocal genius, Mr. Mikael Akerfeldt cum suis are indeed... to die for! What. A. Geniuses...!

It's quite a job to write a review on a band's performance when you in fact haven't yet heard their latest asset "Watershed" enough times to be able to judge the bloddy thing, and the band happens to - rightly so! - put the emphasis on that same album when you witness them perform... twice... but, in all, eventually, you're still able to conclude, it's a wonderful concert indeed! (at both their performances no less)

Well, after having heard their latest asset "Watershed" for about a gazzilion times right now, and having finally found out that it is indeed a wonderful piece of work, I think I can well say that the guys did an awesome job indeed.


Opeth at Hellfest. Piccie by Yours Truly, who felt her trousers tremble along with the Music while standing over there...
Watershed. Yeah, indeed, at first listening, I thought, WTF? - but after giving it the time it truly deserves, I just can't help to agree with The Lovely Folks Over here at DPRP, who all gave it a Nine-out-of-Ten - at least. Jeebus! This is indeed Prog Metal like it SHOULD be!

Death Metal and/or Prog Metal??? Oh no. So much more than that! When I listen to "Watershed", I hear the musical influences from - to mention just a few - Anekdoten (did you guys in fact borrow Ana-Sofie's fantastic MELLOTRON? :-D), The Zombies, King Crimson, combined with the lyrical beauty of Scott Walker & Jacques Brel's work. I kid you not. This, again, is a true masterpiece!

Still, I mourn the departure of former drummer Martin Lopéz (due to 'psychological problems', poor fellow... ), as he could give that additional 'Latin' swing to their work, and he is indeed painfully absent on "Watershed", however good a drummer his replacement Mr. Martin Axelrot surely is...

Keywords: subtle, inspired, passionate, intelligent. Wow, you, Mr. Akerfeldt!
"You've outdone me here...!" Dixit one Mr. Steven Wilson. You might have heard of HIM before over here. :-D


"There's a Notion of Sorrow in You!" - Opeth, 'Burden'...
Oh sure there is. And how beautiful and lovely it indeed is!

Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog, Act One is up! It's a lot of fun; NPH is awesome, and both he and Nathan Fillon are much better singers than I'd have guessed.

---

This totally wonderful interview with JB now comes with wonderful audio, six minutes from the writer's dictaphone recordings that include discussion about John's accents and his conversation with an "ex-gay" religious activist for his documentary "The Making of Me" (airing 24th July on BBC1, kiddies!)

---

I woke up this morning, and I had a thought. That thought was, "Fuck this, I'm going back to bed." I figured I had 30 minutes, which would bring me to the time I got up yesterday, since that worked out fine.
Unfortunately, I failed to have the thought "I should put my clothes in the dryer" until after I got up 40 (yes, I know) minutes later, and I ended up wearing heather grey yoga pants to work.

And it wasn't even a restful extra 30 (40) minutes, because the cat decided to curl up by my head and have a bath, so her whiskers brushing against my nose kept me awake for most of it (what was I supposed to do, kick her out? It was freakin' adorable).

He's back.



At work my manager looked at me, concern in his voice: Do you want to leave early?

My uncle called. SEND. "Hey Tyler!" "Hey." "I just wanted to call and make sure you're okay."

I left work when my shift ended. At home I tossed some shirts and my toothbrush into a bag. Back behind the wheel, headlights showing me the road.

On the 210 I headed East. Just east. I drove until I left behind recognition and familiar sites.

I found a Toyota coasting behind a semi. I followed. It changed lanes. I kept behind it. Another lane change. Another. My blinker blurred bright the air. It disappeared behind a bend. I floored my gas pedal. I'd never done that. I wouldn't lose that car. Determination weighed down my mind. My foot.

Off the 40 freeway, the car exited and pulled into a gas station, alongside a pump. I pulled off to the side and parked. The driver opened the door and got out. A silhouette faced my car and walked my way.



My uncle: "So you heard?"



Back on the freeway I crossed into Arizona. 3:00am. There was no more stopping. Not until I got there.
Lake Havasu. I pulled into the Emergency Room at the hospital's back.



After work, around the corner from home my phone rang: "Mum."
me- hey.
mum- We're leaving.
me- I'm coming.



The bag of socks and shirts rode shotgun along with a plastic family-size bag of Frosted Shredded Wheats.

My mom drove. Her Toyota shifted in and out of cars like that of a worried mother whose only intent was getting to her broken son.

On the second floor, Dylan slept in a hospital gown, a weight tethered to his leg to keep the broken bones in his leg from rubbing.



Dylan had been getting ready to wake board. The boat revved into motion, the board under Dylan went under the water, then whipped to his right breaking the femur bone in his right leg.


I stayed in Lake Havasu and missed a day of school. He went into surgery. His bed wheeled past the waiting room.


I started and finished the book, "About A Boy." Something to fill my head with. I drank in the characters as much as I could. By the book's end, I didn't want to say goodbye to them. Connection.

My cousins and aunt and uncle waited in the waiting room with us.
Aunt Cheryl- Everyone has something to do. I can't think of anything but the surgery.
Uncle George- Here, you want to use the laptop? Check out these YouTube videos?
J.P. (their son)- No, she'll probably just look up porn.
Aunt Cheryl- Yeah, I'll probably just look up porn.

We laughed.


When my parents came back from seeing him into the surgery room my mom's voice cracked as she talked. Oncoming tears.
me- We were just talking about Aunt Cheryl's porn addiction.

The near-crying disappeared for that moment. She laughed. A smile.



His surgery was a success. Happiness in a hospital waiting room.



After sleeping out there for two nights, I readied my trek home. They moved him to a different hospital room. My cousins and I had pizza and talk with him. The delivery man brought the pizzas right to his room, but only after they inquired whether he was allowed to eat pizza.


My cousins left the hospital for their Havasu house. I said sweet night and at 11:30pm left Lake Havasu. Four and a half hours to home, to my own room and my own bed.

And to sleep.

This post is purely to give a bit of comfort to those out there having a Bad Time - I know who you are - and give a bit of my support back to my Polish Lovelies Riverside just the same...!

**************************************

"In Two Minds"

Another day of talking, and I'm In Two Minds -
I think I have to tell you, I finally realised -
I know you'll never really get... inside of me.

But I don't mean to hurt you!
Just let me disappear...

We used to like it like it used to be,
In the Sunset Time of Our Dream -
For all these things we cannot change,
We know, we cannot be, we cannot stay -

But if you lose your faith,
Know that I am still your friend!

And if the Sky Falls Down -
Know that I will still support.... YOU!

**************************************

Here's this beautiful song, "In Two Minds"

For all of you who are in need of a bit of comfort. I know you are out, there. (((HUGS!!!))), and... don't lose your faith.

I do not know why this is, but today started off really well. I dragged myself out of bed, had to dislodge the cat, but whatev, got to work on time, straightened the gradeschool and children's paperback "waterfall" sections, did a couple of mail runs (got my GDL-read Lovecraft CDs!), listened to Just So over lunch. And then I got to ATCo. and it was like there was a conspiracy to undermine my mood. I don't get it. Things just went rapidly downhill after I got to the dock. It wasn't even one thing; I just got all snappish and grumpy after a couple hours.

---

There was one thing: Lord Lloyd-Weber, I hope you do lots of find-a-star TV shows for the BBC in the future, I really enjoy them; but please never ever ever make another one in Canada. The Canadian Maria show is so freakin' depressing, and that's after it's actually improved, a lot. Just no. No. (This is partly because I hate Elaine Overholt as a judge. HATE her.)

---

I decided I like The History Boys movie so much, I ordered it from Amazon. I've had the DVD from Netflix for a month already, and it just seemed like time. I ordered Putting It Together as well.

---

I have to move back to A2 in 46 days, and I don't actually know where I live. I live somewhere, I've paid for it, but nikeratos is going to have to show me, because I'm not even sure of the address. Also, I still don't have my car back, and I'm a bit conflicted about the fact that I'm going to have to take it from my brother, who lives three miles from his job, so that I can get downstate, where I will park it and use it once every week or two to pick up groceries.

---

Please please, go read the small extract from my current writing project and let me know how it sounds. I'm trying to learn the art of bullshitting one's way through fake science, as it were.

---

If I were in my earlier mood, this would be quite a different post. For now, I shall go watch a bit more Mock the Week and Would I Lie To You? and try to improve myself. Love to you all. I mean it. Despite everything.

A rather tiny Progrock Squad (DeHuiz, Maarten & me) set out to Weert, a 90 minutes drive from where I live, this particular Sunday morning, and we were pleased to notice on our way that the Bad Weather predictions quite certainly wouldn't come to be a reality.
And as always, heading for the proven tactic to be able to watch your Truly Beloved from a good nearby spot: !make it there in time!, even if that means you have to 'undergo' your favs' predecessors, which can be quite hard to take at times... when it's Belphegor playing, for instance.

During a short stroll on the festival terrain, I already bumped into quite a few fellows I expected to meet over there. Emile being one of them, but of course, more were bound to follow.

Okay, here to follow - Zeh Reviews! Under a cut, of course, I've been clogging up friends' pages more than enough by now. And do beware - they are HONEST, in good and in bad, in fact this was one of the festivals where my favs did River Deep, Mountain High....



Anathema... alas, one of the 'River Deep'-experiences this time... fltr, Danny, Vinnie & Jamie Cavanagh
(pic by Yours Truly btw.)

( First, A Beautiful Bluesrock Lady... with ONE minor point - )

( Well then... my #1 Band - having a Not-So-Good Day At The Office... )

( And here we have the Undisputed Winners of this Tournament. Boy-oh-boy, to know I had nearly *written them off* the last time I saw them perform! )

Okay. Enough for now. Part 3 - Opeth and Apocalyptica. I promise. :-D