Hobsonphile

Comment Below To Be Added

My email inbox at excite.com has been inaccessible for two days now, so I am switching back to gmail permanently. If anyone needs to get in touch with me, please contact me at hobsonphile@gmail.com.

Thank you!

I have people on my friends list who have very strong and frequently very heterodox (for LJ) opinions. I have friended all of you because I am genuinely interested - often delighted - by what you have to say - and because filling my reading list with people who all agree in lockstep would be terribly boring.

That said -

- if you can't play nice with each other, I'm going to kick you out of my sandbox.

(for the curious)

Mainly, I would like to sell my eleven seasons of M*A*S*H and replace them with the box set to clear off shelf space. And then maybe - well, are the Starburst editions of Farscape worth it? If so, I may sell my older editions.

Which reminds me: Way back when, a few of you requested History Channel DVD's and never got back to me. (For those of you who have in fact sent me an address, I should be shipping yours after the New Year. I tried going to the post office a few days back and it was mobbed, so I figured it would be best to wait until after the holidays. O_o) In particular, I don't think I've heard from iamsab or betareject (Beta, I'm just going to give you whatever has not been claimed). Send me an email at hobsonphile at gmail please so I can zip them your way!

iamsab, mosinging1986, nentari, et. al! crack_van has selected M*A*S*H to be one of their featured small fandoms for December, and I've been tapped to do the recs. Help me, my beautiful people, for my reading interests are, admittedly, rather narrow, and I prefer to deliver broad spectrum crack to the general audience. If you've read a M*A*S*H story that you feel deserves to get featured, please leave the link here and I shall peruse it. I reserve the right to make my own judgments, but chances are pretty high that if you rec it, it'll probably make the list. ;)

In response to this meme and for mini_nanowrimo:

In the year 2261, ( spoiler ), Vir responds to the queries of an unknown correspondent.

( more spoilers inside - don't click mosinging1986! )

703 words, not including the questions. And I'll probably cross-post this to vir_cotto_tm if I can successfully change Vir's password.

If I don't respond to your comments, it means one of the following things:

1. I have not yet received a comment notification because my email client is malfunctioning again.

Or:

2. I can't think of anything to say in response.

Please know that I'm not ignoring you! If you post it and I see it, I do read and assimilate it. I'm just kind of introverted and tend not to reply unless I feel I have something further to contribute.

Love,
hobsonphile

(whom I won't name because I am not a troll)

I have a friends list that is quite diverse, both geographically and politically. Among my friends here, I count libertarians, conservatives, monarchists, liberals, and leftists from Europe, Asia, North America, and Australasia. I disagree with many of these people; sometimes, I even violently disagree. But in the (coming up on) five years that I've been on Live Journal, I've only had occasion to remove a few people from my friends list for crossing my mental line. You have just joined their ranks.

I am heartbroken that it has come to this. I originally friended you because you and I share a rather esoteric interest that I don't really get to discuss with anyone else. Indeed, I hope that we can continue to share said interest on the communities devoted to the subject. But it has become increasingly apparent that you have a caste of mind that I find particularly intolerable.

The warning signs appeared early. When the lead writer for a certain fandom we share casually expressed the belief that his central character is straight, your reaction was out of all proportion to the situation. You accused him of homophobia and of consciously starting an anti-slash propaganda campaign merely because he expressed an opinion to which he is perfectly entitled. I did not defriend you then, though, because I tend to make allowances for fannish passion - and eventually, you did dial it back. I also bit my tongue when you, to my mind, perpetuated half-truths about American history because I could understand how a sincere person might, upon reading certain texts, come to your conclusions. And I let it pass when you made certain extremely prejudicial and inaccurate remarks about the members and media of your political opposition because I understand political passion, too.

You crossed my mental line, however, when you made it clear that you embrace conspiracy theories that, in order to be tenable, require a large number of people to be either groveling, terrified dupes, or greedy and unprincipled murderers. One can disagree with current American foreign policy without going there. That you have, in fact, gone there makes you, quite frankly, rather toxic in my eyes. And I don't want toxic people on my friends list. I don't want people on my friends list who are that unbelievably arrogant. I don't want people on my friends list who believe they know better than everyone else. Frankly, I'm amazed someone who has decades on me would actually adopt a world view so callow and self-congratulating.

At this point, you can consider our relationship beyond special interest communities officially terminated. By all means, feel free to defriend me in return.

hobsonphile

PS: And for everyone else - my rules are quite simple: 1) no conspiracy theories and 2) no wishing your opponents dead. Consider this defriending amnesty day if you cannot follow these guidelines.

This year at Dragon*Con, we are going to hold a trial for various villains of literary science fiction and fantasy. Fun, right? Unfortunately, I'm having trouble deciding which villains I should suggest to our fearless leader, vampry. Any ideas, peanut gallery?

I would say Satan figures (like Sauron, the White Witch, etc.) are out mainly because they're not meant to be ambiguous - and also because we would have a lot of trouble role-playing an unblinking eye. *g*

ETA: And just to clarify, we're looking for villains from books, as we are the literature programming track. *g* (The number of media suggestions makes me wish we could collaborate with the media track, though.)

housenonshipper

This is definitely silly on my part, but I feel like we non-shippers need a space. This is not intended to be a dig at 'shippers, though - please don't be insulted, 'shippers on my flist!

(Indeed, 'shippers are certainly welcome to join so long as it is understood that we will be discussing other things.)

I'm well aware that this community will get very little draw, but that's okay. Even if there's only, oh, three members, we can all have some fun.

john_adams_hbo

That's right - I've finally succumbed.

Now, because I know jack about LJ layouts, I'm going to need a co-mod who can handle the design aspects of the comm. Any takers?

As decreed by sg_fignewton, today is Gen Fic Day. Alas, I became informed of this event far too late to prepare for it properly, so instead of a fic, I bring you a fic rec in keeping with this week's Star Trek kick:

Keeper of the Katra, by Chris Dickenson

It's eighteen years old, but for me, it's the only thing that justifies the existence of The Final Frontier. It is the most fascinating and pitch perfect piece of gen fic I read as a teenager, and believe me when I tell you that it still holds up years later. If you haven't read this novella already, go forth and do so without delay!

(Posted publicly for outside surfers.)

ETA: I just realized they're only doing SG1 fics at the above link. But hell, why can't we make this multifandom? There can never be too much gen, says I.

Gacked from nentari:

Gather all your RP journals and list the characters and any AU versions you RP. Open the doors to the public side so even lurkers can ask the muses questions. Respond with that RP account - or if you don't have accounts, just to the question given.

RP Journals Past and Present by Fandom

Babylon 5

Vir: vir_cotto_tm
Timov: timov_of_algul
Shiv'kala: londos_torment (Note: I can no longer get into this account, so the response will come from me.)

M*A*S*H

Radar: companyclerk
Sidney: army_shrink

~*~

Still writing! In the meantime -

Have fun!

NaNo, as you may have noticed, is stalled for the moment. I've been re-thinking the thrust of my project, but I hope to be getting back into the swing of things this week. In the meantime, have some St. Elsewhere spam, in which I noodle with Elliot's voice in honor of tonight's re-run:

~*~

Untitled

“Hey, Shirley – you know where Elliot went?”

Don’t tell him. Elliot thumped his hot forehead against the bathroom door. Please?

It was the first day of gross anatomy all over again – only this time, the patient was alive – and bleeding – out there, and Elliot himself was still conscious. In other circumstances, the second might’ve been recognized as a sign of personal growth. In other circumstances.

Stars started to twinkle at the edges of Elliot’s field of vision, and he quickly backed up into the tiny bathroom, sitting down hard on the toilet seat. With slick, trembling fingers, he tried to loosen his collar. He was suffocating.

Then, just as suddenly, nerves and self-loathing propelled Elliot back onto his feet, and he started to pace the enclosed space, wringing his hands. “What’s wrong with you?” he muttered aloud. “You’re not supposed to panic, Axelrod. Pull yourself together.”

“Elliot?”

At the knock on the door, Elliot froze, a brand new crimson flush crawling up the back of his neck. This was it. He was going to throw up. He was going to die. He was going to be barred from practicing medicine before he’d even begun.

“It’s okay, Elliot. You can come out now. They just took the patient up to surgery.”

Was Dr. Fiscus amused?

Elliot drew in a deep breath and, bracing himself, opened the door.

~*~

Now - I have combed the internet doggedly for STE fic and have found none. NONE. Does this mean I've given birth to a whole new fandom right here? Can there be such a thing as a fandom of one? *g*

(Posted publicly to allow outside response.)

Previously discussed: the Stacy arc.

In this segment, I tackle Vogler (under the working sub-head: “The Problematic Quest for Moriarty - House and His (Imperfectly Written) Antagonists”):

“Gregory House is a symbol of everything wrong with the health care industry: waste, insubordination, doctors preening like they're kings and the hospital their own private fiefdom. Health care is a business. I'm gonna run it like one.” – Edward Vogler, Babies and Bathwater

(Note: Spoiler warning for the end of the first season.)

Next up: Tritter!

(Posted publicly to allow outside response.)

The fourth season premiere is tonight - and I still have not finished the Epic Essay of Doom for idol_reflection. So here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to post the parts of my rough draft I have finished in the hopes that encouragement from the general public will push me to complete the blasted thing before I am jossed by the new episodes. Beat me with sticks, please!

First up, Stacy Warner:

"How do you think this is gonna end? We'll be happy for what? A few weeks, few months. And then I'll say something insensitive, or I'll start ignoring you. And at first it'll be okay. It's just House being House. And then at some point, you will need something more. You'll need someone who can give you something I can't. You know I’m right. I've been there before." – House to Stacy Warner, Need to Know

(Note: Spoiler warning for the first half of the second season.)

( click here for 1,910 words on the Stacy-arc )

*****

As I said, all comments/criticisms/scoldings are welcome! Talk back below!

Pearls

Edna O'Reilly and an infant Radar. Happy (Belated) Mother's Day!

Where do the conscientious members of House fandom go to get a medical beta? I need to run a scenario by someone who knows all those fancy Latin words.

Still, here is some required reading:

President Clinton - Loyalty Day 2000
President Clinton - Loyalty Day 1999
President Clinton - Loyalty Day 1998
President Clinton - Loyalty Day 1997

I could go on, but I think you get the picture. Loyalty Day is, essentially, a Cold War relic that is marked these days by all presidents (no matter their party affiliation) with one innocuous public declaration of patriotism, then promptly forgotten. Each president puts his own spin on his Loyalty Day address, of course, but if you're imagining that we Americans somehow become extra jingoistic on May 1 - or that President Bush is somehow unique in his observance of this "holiday" - you are profoundly misinformed.

(Made public because I'm sick of the Loyalty Day bullshit being repeated every year.)

Poll #961409 House MD Fandom - Schools of Thought
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

House is a cipher; he should not change.

House is a dramatic character and should change as such.

I like it when House is an ass.

I like it when House shows vulnerability.

I dislike Cameron.

One Day, One Room?

Currently, I 'ship (check all that apply):