AURGH!

It has not been a profitable evening.

For ages I wrestled with a website that promised to let me stream something if I downloaded a codec. I did, but it acted like I hadn't done anything. So I tried again, and ended up with a new version of RealPlayer in addition to the codec. It still wouldn't work and made me download another player. I did, but when that also wouldn't make it work and said for me to download another one, I was justifiably infuriated and uninstalled the players, which I had never really wanted in the first place. I wonder if there's really anything to stream on that site or if it's just a big fake. Sometimes I saw the streaming device in the browser window, but it wouldn't load and insisted the components weren't there even though I installed what it told me to. And before anyone asks, I did close the browser, and even the computer, in between each installation in case it needed a restart to work. And those of you who know me should know by now how much I despise restarting. Those of you who know me should also know I would never go through these kinds of hoops if it wasn't for something I seriously wanted very badly. I still haven't got to see it.

So by that point I was outraged. Then I discover that I had somehow overlooked a journal post that was my only notification that something had been posted that I had highly encouraged and was eager to read. I don't know how I missed it for five days. I rarely ever miss journal posts. And I find it highly frustrating that the one I missed was the one for something I really wanted to read. I've been very busy and in a fog the last few days, but the fic was top priority. I dropped everything and went to read it when I realized what had happened, which I would have done days ago if I'd known.

I was so frustrated that I'd missed that, on top of dealing with that rotten website and some other frustrations I probably won't mention here, that I actually exclaimed to someone in a private conversation "How the he** did I miss that?!" (Yes, that's how I put it, including the asterisks.) Suffice it to say, that means I was very angry with myself. Previously, when I've been angry enough that I've felt like saying something like that, I've **bleeped** the whole word instead of using part of it. Even though I have a bad habit of swearing in frustration to myself, I've always managed to restrain myself from doing it online.

At least, since I'd finally become aware of the fic's existence, I was able to read it. It was everything I'd hoped for and looked forward to, and more. That was one bright spot in an evening of frustrations.

And I think part 2 of the Baby Face revision fic is so long that I lost one of my readers at the Yahoo Group. That's when I know something is too long. I really wanted everything that was in the second part to be in it, but if it's just so long that people don't have time to read it then I've made an error. I was trying to cut down the length of the parts, but it was still too much.

While I was fighting with that wretched website I read some of the tales in my book of supposedly true ghost stories from the Old West. I ended up with a plunnie of some people stumbling into a creepy old house that's haunted by a malicious spirit. After they have a number of disturbing experiences, they flee the house in horror. Then they stumble across someone (possibly Tony or Vince) who tells them that it's inhabited by Baby Face Morales, who was killed in a gang war and still seeks revenge on the ones who killed him.

Random

After watching, re-watching, and pondering over Jimmy Murphy's roles, I have determined that Tony was actually a bit of a departure for him. At that time he was still largely playing either characters referred to as teenagers or petty crooks. Sometimes, as in a Dick Van Dyke Show episode that aired in 1965, he was basically a juvenile delinquent. I definitely think he was getting too old to play supposed teenagers at that point, however. He looked more like he was in his early twenties (and in actuality he was in his late twenties/around thirty).

Most of his characters are either cheery or mischievous/obnoxious (or, in the case of Ernie in a different Dick Van Dyke Show episode, hot-headed). By stark contrast, Tony is mature, cold, and calculating. There's definitely a sense that Tony has been around a good deal, seen a great many things, and is in control. I wouldn't be surprised if he and Baby Face knocked heads frequently over how to handle the gang.

I haven't seen enough of Jimmy's later roles to make an accurate assessment on the kinds of characters he took on then. If I remember right, his first Knight Rider character was kind of cautious/distrusting/serious. His second character was distrusting and hot-headed. But he had been a successful businessmen for quite a few years prior to the time of the episode.

One thing that's always been the same is that Jimmy is the master of hilarious facial expressions. No one can express disgust or WTH quite like he can. Without his and Mike Wagner's (Vince's) reactions, the scene in the backroom in Alias Micky Dolenz wouldn't have been anywhere as funny.

Another thing is I don't think he ever played another character similar to Tony.

Switching gears, I was watching Kolchak again and his editor (also named Tony, which could become confusing in this blog) was freaking out yelling about the mess Kolchak had gotten himself into this time and that he could be killed. He also kept saying it was Kolchak's problem and that he himself wasn't emotional at all, even though he was clearly upset. It definitely looked like a classic case of "I am worrying about your safety but I will never admit it!" I loved it.

HelpJapan on dA!

Kaze has created a fandom auction to raise money for Japan on DeviantArt! Anyone interested, please have a look and consider joining! http://helpjapan.deviantart.com/

... And this meme is frighteningly accurate. Everything it says is so me, especially the middle part. That's exactly why I have so many stories hanging, because I get new great ideas that I must work on too.

You were born during a New moon

The moon is dark in this phase, because the half that's illuminated by the sun is facing away from Earth.

- what it says about you -


You want to leave an impression on people and make your mark on the world. When you love an idea, you'll work hard for it, sometimes even dropping whatever it is you're doing to go on to the next new great thing that's captured your imagination. The more freedom you have to chose what you're doing, the busier you'll be.

What phase was the moon at on your birthday? Find out at Spacefem.com