Be my undoing, be my slow road to ruin...

Now calledmelovely Cookleta remix challenge reveals are up, I wanted to try my hand at making a DVD commentary of Counting Down to Zero for soverignthorn.

I’ve seen this kind of thing done really well before, and thought Kayla might enjoy seeing how (and which parts of) her original story Countdown inspired my remix; also that maybe my process might help someone else with remixing for Round 2?

(And, ngl, I hope my fellow remixers might indulge in DVD commentary also, because I would love to see their process as well! ETA: Okay, I think I sold aohatsu on doing this! \\\o///)

[Spoilers, obviously, are inherent in any DVD commentary, so caveat lector XD.]

( Behind the Countdown… )

In the words of Neil Young, off "Fork in the Road", "Truth is fiction, truth is lies, strange things happen when worlds collide..."

Weird things happen when you're cycling through fandoms at hyperspeed so you can get back to actual work! You know how fandom seems multitudinous and labyrinthian at first blush? Then you run across familiar people -- leici commenting on an old U2 story, otherbella popping up in Hunger Games fandom, discovering that twistedchick, the lady for whom I was writing a Yuletide treat, was a friend of my beta for that self-same story, cinco -- and suddenly there are intricate connections across fandoms where you least expect them :)

And of course, out of those different fandoms comes the crossover fic ideas :)

To wit: in Inception fandom, I've been stalled on the Anthemic-as-Inception-team idea for ages (c'mon, who doesn't wanna see DCook as scene-chewing Extractor DCobb?), and Part II of Tommy Solomon-and-crew-incept-Archie elevator!fic is still at the planning stage :(

Over at The Hunger Games, it's easy to picture Cook and Archie as Finnick Odair and his beloved Annie, or to imagine the Quarter Quell kids getting their golden tickets to Captiol Hollywood, and singing for their lives on the Idol stage -- where they meet Haymitch as Simon Cowell and Snow as evil 19E Network producer Simon Fuller (and Caesar Flickerman as their host, Ryan Seacrest!); Peeta and Katniss sing Marly's "The Letter"/Kradam's We are the Champions and Finnick sings DCook's "Sharp Dressed Man" - and in a nailbiting photo-finish, the number of votes cast for the top two are exactly the same and there are two American Idols crowned! I kinda want to write that :)

Where worlds collide there are duets, too, of course. evilgeniuslady reminded me of the epic 80s Springsteen/Sting duet on "The River", and how epic it was. Magnificent, and magnificently slashy, these classic rockers in their glorious youth singing each other's words and getting up close and personal in each other's space:



( This is the time of worlds colliding, this is the time of kingdoms falling - Springsteen/Sting/U2 OT6 )

Things do get a little sketchy, though, where RL collides with fandom. I have no problems with the idea of celeb RPF - actors and musicians and entertainment and sports personalities are public figures, and as such they sign on to a certain amout of stanning and fair play in re: those public images. Reclusive Harvard figures and businessmen may however not be quite the same kettle of fish, and although I've followed The Social Network fandom and the Mark/Eduardo fic with interest, I have always felt there's a difference.



( Cut for small-world, small-town TSN-related gossip )

This entry was originally posted on dreamwidth; you can choose to read it there.

"...Tell me why, ain't nothing but a heartbreak..."

We interrupt the holiday hangover item postage to bring you this cuteness from empressearwig: Selena Gomez and her band take on the Backstreet Boys! With bonus blond, tousled, air-bass-playing ex-Anthemic Joey Clements. I don't know most of these guys, but it's seriously adorable, folks!



Something else adorable: someone's getting cleaned up for serious publicity for someone's impending new album. (Are you happy the glasses are gone, frackin_sweet?)



( ETA: ACK, massive; let's put the rest of David behind a cut, not that I'd be complaining IRL, of course. )

...only to be with you, only to be with you...

As some of you know, I’d headed out to Melbourne this last week, only to be with U2 and the 360 Degree Tour. The concert was amazing, you guys; I know nobody but Beth and Julia and Clio will care, but this 3,000-word concert recap is for me to hold to my U2-loving and Bono/Edge-shipping heart when I’m cold and in need of something to warm me ;)



I got to watch the Zoo TV Tour when I was barely out of my teens, when the lads were young and vital and at (IMO) music’s cutting edge – they immersed themselves in mass media, music sampling and electronica, and the whole stadium rock performance art experience, all big screens and pirate radio stations run out of Trabants, with absurd smash visuals and deliberate sensory overload like Baz Lurhmann on acid – it was an amazing, life-changing trip. (Producer Nellee Hooper famously told Bono that Zoo TV "ruined irony for everyone", and OMG did it ever.)

Over the years the lads changed, but always stayed relevant, always current, always larger-than-life. You loved them for their focus on the world's issues or hated them for their pompous grandiosity, but you’d have to acknowledge they became the biggest rock band in the world. I was keen to see how they’d stack up now I’m in my thirties and the lads are that much older...and I wasn’t disappointed.

( I have run, I have crawled, I have scaled these city walls...only to be with you )

…and now at least I know I know him well…

Hi, f-list! Check out the awesome new layout which the amazingly talented ciudad made for me! I was really excited to win her services for help_haiti, and she is not only gifted but a real sweetheart (she also provides tech support!). In addition, she’s gonna make me a surprise thing – how is that not sheer win? *dances around*

Thank you so much, my dear! XDD (She wants me to credit the_fulcrum for the style sheet, and viola!)

Separately, I do realize this LJ has been pretty much all American Idol all the time, but I actually do enjoy several other fandoms, including that of the original good Doctor (not you, Tiemann). While Eleven does intrigue me, and I have actually always loved Eccleston, my favorite Dr. is the delectable Ten, played by a David! Tennant’s older than our beloved Dave Cook, but as gorgeous, even more articulate, elegant, and at the same a time total geek. He might not have the Cookster’s guitar-playing biceps, but he is as utterly shag-worthy, ahem.



( Who/Torchwood and Barrowman/Tennant squealing, contd, which not-so-subtly builds to my conclusion, yo. )

Finally: ah, David, David – Archuleta, not Cook or Tennant, and a much younger, less sophisticated and more conservatively religious one. Still love him, and I think he needs love and support – certainly not validation, but not condemnation, either. (Of course people do feel disappointed, and worse, and with good reason.) I am just saying: my wish is for him to grow from the kind, considerate, generous (sheltered, rigidly brought up) teen that he is into the strong, loving and accepting man we know he can be. Okay, that's all.

"They said: you better hold on to what you got..."

This week, David Cook packed his guitar and his lead guitarist and traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with the UN Foundation to raise awareness about the importance of girls' education, for a special episode of IDOL GIVES BACK to be aired on April 21st.

My various thoughts:

01: How fine is he? Seriously.



( Cut for pics, squeeing and a minor rant about reporters and women's rights. )

And, the continuation of my responses to motherendurance's Awesome Interview of Win. I've been having entirely too much fun, answering this - which surprises me, as I'm really somewhat reserved and formal IRL. 

(Sings: "...Find/one song/One last refrain/Glory/From the pretty boy front man/Who wasted opportunity...")

 

5. What led you to Cookleta slash in particular? How did you decide to look for it? Or did you stumble on the pairing? Enquiring minds want to know!

 

( Read more... )