Aubrey and Maturin onscreen

The first reviews for Master and Commander are up at Ain't It Cool News.

That one reviewer who has not read the books says that "Aubrey has an extremely close relationship with his ship's doctor, played by Paul Bettany" gives me hope.

I'm so glad that there are movies based on favorite books coming up that I actually want to see, instead of travesties like League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. (Read the comic instead. Please. It's really really good.)

H:tLJ dvds: Best Buy bonus disc review

I've only watched two episodes so far (The Apple and Cast A Giant Shadow and none of the commentaries, but I did check out the goodies on the Best Buy bonus disc.

On the Best Buy disc there's an instantly forgettable interview with Bob Tapert (Iphicles fans: do not watch this. I'm not kidding), a before-and-after-SFX reel of the fight with the Harryhausen-esque skeletons and twenty or so costume sketches (including those for a guy named 'Iolus' and an early Xena), but the reason you can't do without this disc is the blooper reel.

( Blooper reel highlights )

Multifandom Secret Santa!

Have signed up for tzikeh's multifandom secret santa, which was inspired by the popslash one. You request a couple of pairings in various less-well-known fandoms (I picked Hercules and Hornblower, plus a bonus one which shall be nameless here forevermore) and mention which pairings you are willing to write a 1000+ word story for.

I had to dig deep to come up with more than one for the latter category, since I read a number of fandoms that I couldn't write in to save my life. I do hope I can write something decent, or at least something that isn't the fic equivalent of the scratchy too-tight pink acrylic sweater when you were hoping for a cashmere shawl.

NaNoWriMo is having a strange effect on me (1146 words so far and still at it, thank you); I don't think I'd have dared to sign up for something like this earlier, but Forward momentum! is now the cry du jour.

(Damn. I should have added Miles/Bel to both categories. Oh well.)