So ... we just had another interview with Julie Gardner hit the press, this time in a blog from a reporter of the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

And we've all sort of talked previously about the move of her and Jane Trantor to BBC Worldwide, based out of LA, and of RTD moving to the States (presumably LA) to "write a bit" as well, and what that may all mean in the end.

I've posted before that I think Trantor and Gardner want to move towards BBC Worldwide (and therefore BBC America, as beneficiary) towards being an independent production arm, and I think we have yet another hint of that here in her interview:

I just moved to Los Angeles, I'm working for BBC Worldwide Productions, which is a commercial arm of the BBC, and we are hoping to set up some scripted titles. So I'm looking at original titles for the U.S. market, looking for more from the U.K. that might do well in a new package, and looking at co-productions between the two territories. So it's early days, but I'm enjoying my time here very much.

I repeat: "... hoping to set up some scripted titles ... original titles for the U.S. market ..."

I think I may have been right, eh? Thoughts, anyone?

The askverse has been throwing a post-CoE party that is truly astounding. Hypervodka for everyone!

Last I checked, it was up to over 1700 comments. (Which is where the party is, folks -- it's like reading crack. You. Want. To. Go. There.)

I just heard a very familiar loud whooshing sound (for those of you who know my family background in lighter-than-air, you'll know I grew up hearing it a lot) ... looked out my window, just in time to see a gondola go up over the peak of the house here at the second story.

Took off down to the deck, just in time to see a lovely hot-air balloon waft over our backyard and waved at the three people in the basket. Looked like they were trying to get some altitude because they missed our large backyard, and below us down all the way to the lake is all trees. Hope they land well, somewhere beyond that!

(Damn that they missed us! Would have had champagne for breakfast! [Traditionally, if you land on someone's property, you break out a bottle of champagne for them; balloonists carry a bottle or two for this reason])

And now I'm awake, having only dozed about 15 minutes so far.

Variety has an exclusive clip from New Orleans, Mon Amour, starring Christopher Eccleston & Elizabeth Moss. He is wearing remarkably little in this clip, and I keep telling myself to stop being shallow, as it's apparently a great indie flick set post-Katrina. But ... yeah. Guh.



Looks like this is going direct to video on-demand on cable starting this next week, and then on iTunes and Amazon video. At least it's getting released; indies are in hard times.

Although my HD version was still outstanding by 11pm, baron_elric and I decided to watch ep 4 of Children of Earth, after having watched all three of the previous episodes last night (yes, I hoarded them up and watch them all at once -- got a problem with that? shut it!).

( And now we go to a cut ... )

Got a call from my publisher of The First Year: Lupus a bit ago, and turns out Inside Edition is looking for someone who is an "expert" in lupus who has the disease to do an interview for them today about Michael Jackson.

All my info and photos of my gorgeous malar rash (the facial butterfly rash I get when I flare) has been pushed on up to the contact's senior producer. I should hear soon if I need to go into the local studios for a satellite hookup interview.

Inside Edition lady: Can you drive to Boston?
Me: We have TV studios here in Manchester, NH.
Her: We need a satellite hookup.
Me: ::rolls eyes:: We have them here in Manchester, seven minutes from my house.

(What I wanted to say: "DOH! Ever heard of the US presidential primary? New Hampshire? Every four years? The campaign? Ring a bell? Of course we have satellite hookup! We have some of the best!" Hah! Oh, how I love people in the business...)

I'll see how this pans out. If it does show, they're clearly in a hurry to package it for tonight's episode.

You know, I never thought I'd actually be grateful to Michael Jackson for anything at all. I sort of ignored all the stuff about his death until the idea he had lupus came up, and look what's happening now. Huh. Who'd 'a thunk?

============

And I didn't get enough sleep last night; I'm running on fumes. Oh, and of all times for me not to have a lupus flare going on? It's now. Hah! I've been trying so hard to fend off a flare by de-stressing myself! Too funny. They sooo want to concentrate on the skin discolorations that can happen with discoid lupus, and I kept trying to tell the woman, "Yeah, that's probably what he had to start off. But that doesn't kill you. What killed him was SLE, systemic lupus -- that's what would have inflamed the arteries, leading to a heart attack."

(I'll also bet this is what was behind his "mysterious" tendonitis. Been there, done that, myself. Typical lupus patient: no one bloody believed him and checked for lupus. Or, he was one of the 40+% of patients that have all the symptoms and don't test positive for the rheumatoid factor, ANA. I'm one of those, too. I only hope this will raise more awareness of the disease and get some money into research. It's needed so much.)

So, caught up on Torchwood: Children of Earth through episode three tonight. (Watching three hours at once? Intense. But also frustrating, as now I have to wait, dammit, for tomorrow night.)

( And what I want to know is ... )

baron_elric has started to put some of his graded comics collection up for sale, to try to raise some money to pay for things like his recent cancer surgery (even with insurance, we had a bill that was in the thousands -- yeah, love US healthcare, we do).

Currently we have up for bidding:

Avengers #31 -- Good+ condition:
Story by Stan Lee, art by Don Heck. Condition is Good Plus, with wear along spine and slight damage on outside of cover. Colors are good, gloss is still high, and interior pages are light ivory to white in color.

Avengers #30 -- Good+ condition:
Story by Stan Lee, art by Don Heck.
Condition is Good Plus, with wear along spine, slight damage on outside of cover, slight crease marks and smudge on front cover. Colors are good, gloss is still high, and interior pages are very light ivory and evenly colored.

Photos are on the eBay pages -- we'd be happy to scan interior pages for you, if you'd like.

Elric will be putting more up soon, including more like this of general interest. Then, in a few weeks we will be offering the first ten numbers of The Avengers, the first ten of The X-Men, and X-Men #94 with Giant Size X-Men #1. We have quite a few to list, in all -- feel free to ask to see if we have something you might be interested in, in particular.

Please do let people know about this, and let them know the cause, if you'd be so kind. We need to be able to keep paying our health insurance, for obvious reasons, as well as, well, the mortgage. It's tough times out there, folks!

The Friday DT "Sexy-Off" is over here at dt_sexy_off.

Come join us! Think of it as a different kind of fireworks (for those in the US)...

The new Torchwood radio dramas from BBC are available for download here -- though most of you already know that.

What's making me go "hmmmmm," however, isn't the content, but the fact that the BBC states that they're available for "UK only" listeners (as is most of their iPlayer content for DW and Torchwood), and yet here I sit in the States and can download it just fine, thankyouverymuch.

Not that I'm complaining, but I wonder when someone at BBC is doing to notice. I'm hoping it's not before the third play is posted on Friday.

==============

And I am soooo avoiding slugging this book's table of contents (all 700+ pages' worth...) this evening/morning. Can you tell?

We have fantastic news concerning how baron_elric is doing after his prostate cancer surgery.

He just got the results from his first post-surgical PSA-level test, and it reads "0.1%" -- that's as low as the lab's readings can go. Which means ZERO level.

In short, that means they definitely got all the prostate cells. Hurray!

He will have this blood test done every three months for the next while, then every six months, then yearly for the rest of his life. Of course, what we're hoping for is that it will continue to read zero, and that no pesky prostate cells (and therefore probably cancerous cells) got loose and wandered around prior to surgery. All signs look good so far, though!

We're very, very happy with that news, of course.

He continues to be a bit tired more than usual, and has what I call little cat-nap attacks (bless), isn't allowed to pick up heavy objects (in case of possible herniation where they made incisions), and is, ahem, regaining control of certain, ahem, functions. His urethra still gives him some spasms as it gets used to being pulled apart and put back together again, but all signs point to a full recovery. His urologist says he's ahead of the curve for all of that stuff (especially certain control -- I don't envy him what he's had to endure).

I'm very proud of my boy. :)

Well, the MRI and X-rays taken a few weeks ago at the Neurospine Insitute of Hell (not going back there -- oh, happy day!) were read by my neurologist this morning, and he walked me through them, since he knew I'd looked at MRIs and loads of X-rays before (and my husband is the son of a teaching doctor at Temple, etc. etc.).

Short story is:

L1-2
L2-3
L3-4
L4-5
All have bulging discs, all bulging out to the left. L2-3 looks like it's the closest to prolapsing (bursting).

All have inflammation of the facets, some "hugely" inflamed (see under cut, below). May be impinging on the nerves (his words: "L4-5 are undoubtedly causing some nerve pain" but we need to have tests done, again see below cut).

L2-3
L3-4
L4-5
These also have stenosis, L4-5 being the worst offender. Also may be impinging on the nerves (see under cut for more, below).

( And the hip bone's connected to the ... -- Explanations under the cut )

The next steps will be:

1. Get a nerve induction test (my neuro can do that) to see if there is nerve impingement from disc bulging, facet inflammation, or stenosis. Results are usually ready in a day.


2. See a spine surgeon all the way the heck up at Dartmouth Hitchcock in Hanover, NH, at the medical school & hospital. If there is no nerve impingement, we may skip this step for the moment.


3. Get some gentle PT started at Dartmouth/CMC down here in Manchester to get the muscles to relax more on the left side and stop pulling my spine (and discs) the heck out of whack. As well as relieve some of the muscular pain that's built up over the last year and a half.

I left the clinic with the front desk telling me that all of these appointments would have to be done "later" by the staff and they'd call me. That was at 10:30am this morning. They never called back. I'll check with them tomorrow, and hopefully they've started the process.

(The frustrating part is the system with Dartmouth Hitchcock is all computerized, so the notes from the doctor were literally on her screen while she told me with a straight face that she had to "wait for the doctor's notes." Oh, the notes he sent into the system while he was with me not five minutes ago? Those notes? The ones that I know are instantly available to everyone, including me? [I love that part of the system, frankly.] Maybe she wanted to take a coffee break, but I was too damn tired and in too much pain to argue with her. Tomorrow, I may not be so polite. Just set up the freakin' appointments. Sigh.)

The GOOD NEWS is THE PAIN IS NOT ALL IN MY FREAKIN' HEAD. It's in my back. Where we thought it was. :D

Other good news is that he considers the amount of painkillers I'm taking daily to not only be reasonable given the condition of my spine, but he thinks I should perhaps up it if I need to, within reason of course.

And my suspicion is that my sleep patterns will improve if I can get this pain under better control. May it be so.

Oh my. Just reinstalled the long-lost Dashboard widget for Oblique Strategies, and the first card it comes up with?

"Be dirty"

O RLY?

I know some of you love the Book Depository (UK) especially for DW stuff, and who wouldn't? According to The Bookseller, the Book Depository is doing a US push for a marketing stand in the US with more competitive prices on a US-oriented website.

Book Depository m.d. Kieron Smith said: "The launch of a tailored .com website is a crucial step towards developing our brand internationally, and offering locally appropriate content and pricing. We already have fantastic customers in North America, and this site will offer them an even greater selection of titles plus more competitive prices backed up with our free delivery offer."

Smith said current pricing for international customers was based on UK market data, but "as part of this project we'll be more competitive against US booksellers".

Mmmm. Better-priced UK Doctor Who books and comics. Discuss. :)

This just showed up at the Daily Mirror:

A one-off special of Doctor Who is set to bring all 11 incarnations of the Time Lord together for the first time.

The episode will see new Doctor Matt Smith, 26, make his debut, joining David Tennant, Christopher Eccleston and old favourites including Tom Baker, Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy.

The 15-minute show, which starts filming in September, will be shown in November as part of BBC1’s Children in Need appeal.

The stars have waived their fees for the show, in which the 10th doctor, played by Tennant, gets some help from the others to carry out a mission.

The entirety of the article is here.

Dunno if this is for reals, but I'd wait until BBC announced it, though. (Especially as all this comes from "a source," and yet: "A BBC spokesman said last night: “Nothing has been finalised yet, although there is discussion of a Children in Need Doctor Who special. It is too early to say what.”")

So yeah. Grains of salt. We have them.

=============

Oh, and in my real life saga of the ongoing disc!fail --

spine 5
editrx 1

Stay tuned as I find out MRI results later this week (I hope; they claim it will take 2 weeks to read the MRI -- I want to know if they're sending out to Siberia for another doctor or what. This New Hampshire Neurospine Institute thingie does not impress me so far.).

(via several friends)

Victorian tea rapping vid

There are few hours in life more agreeable
than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.

--Henry James

I'm probably not the first to post this photo taken the other day of DT at a birthday party (forgive, O gods, that this is from the Daily Mail, but I couldn't resist), yet it just needs to be said, ladies and gentleman:

Bless.

He's wearing all those clothes he's worn before -- I love the frugality and the geekiness of it. And the normality of it. Well, sort of, because ...



OW MY EYES! MY RETINAS!!!

Oh David, bless.

But you can't dress yourself, can you? ::hugz::

(And, lord, GM is tiny. I knew she was tiny, but she's tiny!. I hate it that the paps photo makes them look like rabbits in headlights. I know people in the business and they hate it, too -- sigh. Weasels. But ... look at that outfit! Wheeee!)

=========

Can you tell I'm avoiding doing some proofreading right now? Someone tell me to go back to work -- that Wiley book is due tomorrow.

Although I'm still doing most of my work in the afternoons and at night, due to that weird sleeping disorder-that-isn't-a-disorder, work has been proceeding apace for both me personally and for Windhaven.

Almost done with the latest Wiley book to proofread (theory of software testing -- which reminds me, I need to open my new shipment of espresso pods, as I went through a lot these last couple of weeks), and should be finished and invoiced on Monday.

The Heinlein project goes apace and I'm throwing in some typesetting on that this weekend and during next week, to get some of the larger books coming up out of the way and onwards towards the proofreaders. Who are, I might add, some of the best freelancers I've worked with in years (love you guys!) and have been doing yeoman's service to get through some of the more tough-to-read of RAH's work in the last couple of months.

Followed up yesterday on two leads for singleton projects to copyedit or proofread -- let's see if the universe ever brings those back to roost. Here's hoping.

And tomorrow I need to write up an estimated quote for one potential client who I'd be fascinated to work for; they publish some of the more obscure (to people who don't study this stuff) Protestant theology and sermons that came out of the Reformation period. We'd only be providing typesetting services, but still ... not your run-of-the-mill stuff. And a terrific opportunity for some really cool typographical design. ::rubs hands in glee:: Light candles for this one to work out, folks -- I'm really interested in this one!

Not that all is well with the world. Yes, publishing as a whole is still doing down fast. It ain't pretty out there. It gets grimmer every day.

And now the printers/binders are going down, too: last week Quebecor World declared an enormous first-quarter loss, and this week R.R. Donnelly made a bid to buy out Quebecor World. I don't know what would be worse: losing Quebecor entirely, or being faced with one printer that basically could set the paper, binding, and warehouse costs for what is mostly the entire publishing field of the Western world. Not good.

Color me surprised. Also behind the times, as I'm not in the UK. Why did no one tell me about these before?! (I found out about them while ... um ... wandering about.)

There are BBC red button "sing-alongs" for Ashes to Ashes after the episodes of season 2. With comments by Gene Hunt.

OMG. Made. Of. Win.

=============

ETA: I could swear I'd saved an animated .gif from Life on Mars that someone here on LJ has, which has that infamous Gene Hunt driving backwards down an alley with a sandwich in his mouth, pulling into a J turn and smiling around the sandwich. Where is that? My hard drive has either eaten it, or Photobucket has.

Halp? Anybody have that, still? ::pouts:: I loved that .gif.

The DT Sexy-Off for Friday, June 5, 2009 is .... HERE!

(No, not here here, over there. Go! Post! Enjoy!)