| Make It a WILD CARDS Christmas |
[Dec. 1st, 2009|01:19 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  excited | ] |
Pat of Pat's Fantasy Hotlist runs good contests, evil Dallas Cowboys fan that he is. Right now he's giving away five sets of the first two books in our current Wild Cards triad, INSIDE STRAIGHT and BUSTED FLUSH.
Check out the details at http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2009/11/win-set-of-wild-cards-novels.html
Meanwhile, Tor has scheduled the release of SUICIDE KINGS, the third and concluding volume of the Committee triad, for December 22.
The contributing writers for this one are Ian Tregillis, Caroline Spector, Melinda Snodgrass, Victor Milan, S.L. Farrell, and Daniel Abraham.
Rustbelt, the Amazing Bubbles, Double Helix, the Radical, Gardener, and Jonathan (Bugsy) Hive provide the threads for our tapestry in this tale of love, war, revenge, and madness in the heart of darkness... but other Wild Cards favorites will also appear, including Cameo, Hoodoo Mama, Lohengrin, Dr. Finn, Popinjay, and many more. Not to mention the usual host of new characters, in parts both large and small.
So draw an ace for Xmas, and give Wild Cards a try. You won't be sorry. |
|
|
| The fire drills, they do nothing! |
[Nov. 27th, 2009|09:02 pm] |
Today at work we had a small fire in the basement storage area. While I was downstairs blasting fire extinguisher everywhere, one of my coworkers ran upstairs and grabbed the phone saying, "I'm going to call 911. We have a fire." A customer interrupted her phone call to ask, "Do you sell scarves?"
Later, the fire department was ventilating the smoke out of the basement; the front doors were open to let air through, but we had three lines of yellow FIRE LINE DO NOT CROSS tape across the entry. Two women walked up to me and asked if they could come in. As an aside, one was pregnant and the other pushing a stroller so yah, they've already bred.
Somehow the only thought in my head is, "The stupid! It burns!" |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Nov. 30th, 2009|11:55 pm] |
I really don't want to call the doctor tomorrow. I WILL, but I don't want to. I always feel like I'm going to miss stuff. My aunts and mom are getting together on Friday and doing a seance. I don't totally buy into that, but I still think it'd be fun to be there. And then, who's going to take care of the kitty? Matt will be here at night, but he doesn't hand out nearly as much love as I do. Virtue needs LOVE, he's my baby. And Huka needs to know he's loved, and not being replaced by Virtue.
Plus, I don't want to be away from my husband right now. After being gone for a week, and coming back to shaky ground.... being apart is not something I'm looking forward too.
Uhg. Why won't the hospital just let me bring my kitten.
PLUS, the last time I was in, the care was so monumentally bad... I'm worried about being stuck on a sketchy floor again, and being even more miserable than usual once again.
I feel like crap. Flat out, my entire rib cage hurts, to the point where I can't wear a bra because it's too uncomfortable. I'm having a ton of trouble breathing. It hurts to move. I still would rather stay home. I haven't felt like this in a while, last few times I felt RELIEVED to be going in, knowing I'd come home feeling better. But I don't feel that way this time. I'm just dreading it. I'd rather sack out on the couch and be sick. For real.
But I'll call, to avoid the wrath of Matt and my mother... If it were just up to me, I think I'd let it go another week though... |
|
|
| It's a Wrap |
[Nov. 29th, 2009|11:48 pm] |
Another highlight of my time in Morocco was the wrap party.
For those not familiar with the term, it's a Hollywood tradition to throw a big party when you finish shooting -- or "wrap" -- on a movie or television project. I attended quite a few great wrap parties during my ten years in LA, but the GAME OF THRONES wrap party blew them all away. We held it in the Ouarzazate Museum of Cinema, a pretty amazing place itself, complete with local musicians, belly dancers, acres of Moroccan delicicacies, and lots of spirits to lubricate the exhausted cast and crew. And when the museum threw us out, we just adjourned back to the Berbere Palace, where the party continued.
These few poor snapsnots don't capture a tenth of what went on. But hey, what happens in Morocco stays in Morocco, right?
A great time was had by all... except, of course, for the cast members who shot their scenes in Ireland and Scotland, and the Irish and UK crew who did not get to make the trip to Morocco. The drawback of shooting in so many different places... everyone couldn't be there together to celebrate the end of the shoot. |
|
|
| Jerusalem |
[Nov. 29th, 2009|04:46 pm] |
I know that you all want to see pictures from the pilot shoot for A GAME OF THRONES, but alas, I can't show you the sets, the actors in costume, or any of that good stuff.
Which is not to say that I can't show you a few other things from my recent trip.
Jerusalem in Morocco, f'rinstance.
Here are some shots of the huge city walls and siege machinery that Ridley Scott built for KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, outside the city of Ouarzazate in Morocco. We did shoot some scenes here... but inside, in a court redressed for our purposes.
That's my assistant Ty perched on the battering ram, which was full sized, made of real wood, and appeared to be fully functional. Ditto the siege towers and trebuchets Ridley left.
The interior courtyards were equally impressive (alas, I can't show you the one we redressed and actually used).
I worked in Hollywood for a decade back in my checkered past, and these are the most impressive sets I've ever seen. Hell, Scott's fake castle beats about eighty per cent of the real castles I've seen, and I've visited a LOT of castles.
I'm obviously going to have to put a city under siege sometime soon, so we can go back to Morocco and play with all these cool toys one of these days. |
|
|
| Jets |
[Nov. 29th, 2009|04:15 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | nfl | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | satisfied | ] |
Life is... well, not magical, but tolerable today.
Jake Delhomme threw more interceptions than Mark Sanchez today, so the Jets beat the Panthers and still have a pulse. A very faint one, to be sure, but still a pulse.
Revis was amazing, completely shutting down Steve Smith.
Obviously my teams can only play well when I am here watching. I can never leave home again. |
|
|
| Hi! |
[Nov. 29th, 2009|03:54 am] |
|
So I'm 25 and living in BC right now while I wait to hear from the Toronto transplant team. Just thought I'd say hi since I really have noone else to talk to about any of this. Nobody I know understands what it's like and the more people try to understand, the more frustrated I get with them. The more people try to help me, the more alone I feel. I dunno. Hi. Just hi. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Nov. 26th, 2009|07:08 pm] |
Last week, me and one of my friends were talking about how we were glad to only have three days of school this week, having off for Thanksgiving, and the day after. In this middle of the conversation, she stops by saying,
"Wait, why do we have off Thursday? I'm pretty sure Thanksgiving falls on a Friday this year."
*facepalm* |
|
|
| We thought all the guys were just friendly! |
[Nov. 26th, 2009|10:24 pm] |
Recently been reminded of this one:
Three female friends of mine shared a flat in West London. Two of them were single so wanted to find themselves a man each. Frequently on weekends they would go drink at a pub somewhere locally.
After a couple years they were again single and decided to drown their sorrows again. I was visiting and asked if there weren't any nice blokes around the pub, seeing as they must have got to know the regulars prety well by now, going there two or three times a week.
"Oh, yeah, there's lots of guys who seem really nice, but they just never seem to be interested in that way, you know?"
I found this hard to believe, so I asked them which pub it was.
"The Birdcage. On the High Road."
Just a minute. The Birdcage? That wouldn't be the pub on the High Road with all the rainbow flags outside it, would it? And the rainbow pub sign? And the posters advertising AIDS benefits events? And regular drag nights?
Yes, that's the one. Why?
You didn't think that the men there seemed very fond of each other? Holding hands, etc?
Eventually I had to spell out for them in words of one syllable that rainbow decor = gay pub and this might be not the best place for straight women on the pull... I have no idea how they could be so oblivious for so long; one had even gone there with her gay best mate and his boyfriend, and we grew up in Brighton, gay capital of England! |
|
|
| Anyone else have this problem? |
[Nov. 28th, 2009|04:22 am] |
Last night I was at a staff xmas party. As usual my hands were frozen,to be more presise my fingers. I kind of studied them to see if they had changed colours. They had. To blue! Usually they turn purple and sometimes they'll turn blue. One of my friends saw them and she's trained as a nurse and freaked out a little and started rubbing them until they turned pink again. I haven't had any breathing problems and there is no clubbing. I just have really lousy circulation. It happens to my toes too. It's easier to deal with my toes because I can keep them warm with socks. If anyone has this problem what do you do to make them feel warm again?
Thanks!
Cheers |
|
|
| Giants Game |
[Nov. 27th, 2009|04:10 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | nfl | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  sad | ] |
Life is meaningless and full of pain.
Suddenly it seems a thousand years ago when the G-Men were 5-0 and dominating. What the hell happened? Clearly I can't leave the country during football season. My teams just seem to fall apart without me. |
|
|
| Happy Turkey Day |
[Nov. 26th, 2009|01:41 pm] |
Feeling much better this morning, and off in a few minutes to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends and family.
(I am once again relying on TIVO to record the Giants - Broncos contest tonight, so no commentary about it here, please. I probably won't watch it until tomorrow).
I have a lot to be thankful for. My readers, my friends, and most of all Parris.
I hope all you reading this are similarly blessed.
Happy Thanksgiving. |
|
|
| Happy Thanksgiving |
[Nov. 26th, 2009|08:33 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  Thankful | ] |
Happy thanksgiving, all! Let's count down my top ten list of things I am thankful for today:
#10 Turkey
#9 All the other food that will be at the Thanksgiving day feast today.
#8 Rainy, stormy November weather. I'm such a northwestern girl at heart.
#7 One of my best childhood friends gave birth to a healthy baby boy a week ago.
#6 Having a job and good savings account when a lot of other people don't have either right now.
#5 Our brave, stupid dog. He has saved us from a fire, last week saved another dog's life (via blood donation), and just last night he guarded us from crocodiles and explosions on TV. Good boy! But did you realllly have to eat my underwear?
#4 I'm healthy, and singing better than I have any time in my life, even with a 65% PFT.
#3 All of the people that will be at dinner at my parents house today, but especially...
#2 My brave, darling, loving husband...
...who would be #1 if he hadn't rolled over and snored in my ear so much last night. ;)
#1 There has been no house fire in 364 days. Lets go for a solid year, shall we? |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Nov. 25th, 2009|11:50 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | home | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  happy | ] |
I wasn't in a fit state to answer the last Gene Therapy post and rather than risk nobody seeing it because it's so long ago, I thought I would post again. The following quotes and paraphrases from the recent CF Trust update to members (i.e. UK patients and families).
"The first dose in the much anticipated pilot study was given in February 2009. ... Once the results of the pilot study have been analysed, a further round of safety tests ... is necessary. " [Also need to be approved by a government board.]
They are pretesting 200 volunteers for the clinical trial now. However, there are various hurdles to overcome (those above and others). "The multi-dose clinical trial should begin in 2011 with results 18 months or so later. This groundbreaking work has not been undertaken anywhere in the world before so we constantly have to review timescales."
"Work also continued last year on wave 2 gene therapy products, including using a new type of virus carrier which can be given repeatedly, and some further lipid-based carriers which could improve on the wave 1 product currently being piloted."
---
Normally you don't hear such blow-by-blow descriptions of the research process but because gene therapy is such a grail for those affected by CF, the CF Trust have been incredibly good at disseminating information and I'm sure you can find more on their website. It's taken them 7 years of concerted effort to get this far, in the process narrowing it down to two main options (hence waves 1 and 2). My guess is that it will be at least 5 more before it becomes widely available. I anticipate that will be well within my lifetime since I have no intention of keeling over any time soon. It's remarkable progress regardless.
----
I want briefly to mention some of the science behind it, admitedly in my own interpretation. The essence of CF is the flow of water around the body - the cells which are meant to regulate the flow of salt don't do it right and so many of our bodily fluids are thicker than they should be. The actual gene manipulation replaces the CFTR gene in those cells (at least) and with an ongoing effect (I'm not sure how ongoing at this point) so that the patient's mucus becomes the normal consistency and flows normally. With normal mucus, the lungs should clear properly, there shouldn't be a problem with pseudomonas etc and new lung damage - fibrosis - should be reduced. Remember, most adult humans only use some ridiculously small amount of their lungs so even if the change only affects a percentage of your lungs that could make a massive difference.
There were two main projects as mentioned, and they both hit major hiccups a few years ago. One couldn't get through the cell wall, the other could but was having difficulty attaching beforehand. It looks like one of those problems has been solved and the other is on the way. This means we should have a product which can aerosol properly (however it's applied - don't know that), will make it through the lungs, cling to the cell walls, infiltrate the right cells and change the specific faulty DNA. I understand it's not a comfortable process but after all this time with CF I don't think anyone should be complaining! |
|
|
| LiveJournal Major Notes: Security, Mobile, Facebook, Writer's Block, and Notes |
[Nov. 25th, 2009|02:07 pm] |
Tweaks and enhancements
- In order to improve site security, we've temporarily suspended the ability to change passwords for old email addresses that haven't been used for over six months. For further information and support, please visit our customer care page.
- We've launched a new mobile site with an enhanced UI at m.livejournal.com. View spotlights, post to your journal, read and post to friends pages, and more, no matter where you roam! Please let us know what you think, since this will eventually replace our existing mobile interface. You can update your mobile preferences on your account page.
- We've upgraded from Beacon to Facebook Connect to improve dual posting. If you've already signed up for Facebook Beacon, you're good to go. If you wish to update your Facebook Connect setting, visit Account Privacy settings and scroll down to the option labeled: "Send information about my updates to Facebook." You can choose Always or Ask each time. Remember to save (on the bottom left corner of the page). To learn more, check out FAQ 249. While we're on the subject, if you happen to be visiting that side of town, please join our Facebook fan page for a touch of home away from home.
- You'll now receive the Writer's Block Question of the Day in the body of email notifications. To sign up for Writer's Block notifications, visit
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) writersblock and choose the Watch Community option. Next, update your Writer's Block notification settings by checking the box to the right of "Someone posts a new entry to writersblock."
- Paid and permanent users can now view, add, and edit Notes of commenters. Notes will appear beside the username of comment posters (instead of stars) on S1-themed comment pages.
Send some lovin' thanks to your friends with our holiday vgifts!
Photos of the weekWe're so delighted with the immense talent of our growing, global lj_photophile community that we've decided to introduce a poll. Each week, we'll choose a half-dozen photos (based on user comments and staff feedback) and ask you to select a photo of the week. The winning photo will be announced in the next newsletter. If possible, please limit photo size to 350x350 to ensure that images display properly on friends pages. We want to thank you again (and again!) for sharing your passion.
Check out this week's photo poll and more fantastic user content after the jump!
( Read more... ) CurtainsThanks for joining us. To our American friends, have a fantastic Thanksgiving. To all of our international neighbors, we'll eat a little extra for you! |
|
|
| NFL |
[Nov. 24th, 2009|02:39 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | nfl | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | crushed | ] |
I am about halfway through watching the football games that were TIVO'd for me while I was overseas.
I came back from my trip sick to my stomach, as I reported last post. These games are only making me sicker.
Life is meaningless and has no joy but the Raiders. |
|
|
| Home Again |
[Nov. 24th, 2009|02:31 pm] |
I got home a little past midnight on Sunday night, after a long and gruelling trip from Casablanca. Three flights, changes in NYC/ JFK and Minneapolis/St. Paul, close to twenty-four hours in transit since the wake-up call came through in my Casablance hotel. I was pretty much a zombie by the time I stumbled off the last flight into Parris's loving arms, and a rotting zombie at that. After being oh-so-careful in Morocco -- not drinking the water, brushing the teeth with bottle water, avoiding uncooked food, etc -- I made the grievous error of eating at the McDonald's in the Minneapolis airport during our layover there, and came down with an nice all-American case of food poisoning. By the time I boarded my last flight my stomach felt as if I'd swallowed a lead bowling ball. It was the first time I'd eaten at a Mickey D's in a decade, and I hope that it's the last.
Anyway, the last day and a half I've spent mostly in bed or in the john, but I'm feeling a little better now. This is the first time I've felt strong enough to boot up my computer... where, of course, I found five hundred emails waiting.
The trip was great, and I hope to write more about it later, when I'm feeling stronger.
I have to say, though, I am not sure how many of these overseas trips are left in me. It's great when I get there, but air travel has just become SO exhausting and SO uncomfortable, especially when oceans are involved, that the mere thought of any more just now is daunting.
Where are the rocket planes that I was promised in the SF of my youth? |
|
|
| Just wondered |
[Nov. 21st, 2009|11:32 am] |
|
My little brother and I both have CF. I am 25 and My brother is 20. In the past year we both have had an big jump on how many intestinal blockages we have had I was just wondering if anyone else has had this problem recently. I am normally good with my GI track but this year I have been hospitalized at least 3 times for Blockages. Just was wondering if any of you had any ideas how we could avoid this or why it maybe happening more. Thank you! |
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
| |
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
beckyogg's Friends Page
giddy
relaxed
sick