everything but the girl

We've extended the Ascendio Programming Proposal Submission Deadline of Deadlineyness! It's a Leap Day thing, now!

As it always is at HPEF cons, Ascendio programming is by the attendees, for the attendees -- so we need YOU to submit proposals for our formal programming slate! We’re seeking proposals of all shapes and sizes, to discuss/probe issues in Harry Potter and beyond.

Our formal programming deadline has been pushed back to February 29, in order to give everyone a little more time to work out their schedules, topics and panels, BUT! All proposals submitted by the original deadline of February 1st will be considered by our vetting committee right away. Ascendio plans to begin accepting proposals in mid-February (while still allowing proposal submissions until February 29 -- we're nice like that! XD)

What kinds of things should you propose? Here are just some examples:

• Content for our Quill Track: writing workshops, e-publishing how-tos, hot topics in publishing & YA.


• Workshops, including but not limited to crafts, fanart & writing techniques (knitting, crocheting, drawing characters, jewelry making, scrap-booking...)


• Discussions of fanfiction and shipping (both het & slash pairings)


• The real-world implications of Harry Potter, transformative works and fan culture (LGBTQ, religion, politics, feminism, privilege, etc.!)

Want to know more? Check out or Call for Papers, or jump right here to submit your proposal!

And if you have any questions, you can always email us or ask us on Facebook , Twitter or here on DQ - or on our ascendio2012 comm.

By sharing this breaking tweet with her:

BREAKING: Rob Marshall to work on a film adaptation of the Broadway musical Into The Woods for The Walt Disney Studios

Source

And now I am dreamcasting this movie, but only if we can keep Bernadette as the Witch (or, you know, Idina?) and have Chip Zien cameo as The Mysterious Old Man.

I want Dan Radcliffe or Chris Colfer as Jack, Anne Hathaway as Cinderella, Amy Adams as the Baker's Wife, Neil Patrick Harris as the Baker... Can Lea Michelle sing Rapunzel or should she be Red Riding Hood? Guh, who would make good Princes? Zefron and Darren Criss are too young but would be amusing - maybe James Marsters as Rapunzel's and it would be so amusing to have Hugh Jackman as Cinderella's prince as he's also the Wolf? And for purely ironic purposes, Kristen Chenoweth as The Giantess.

Oooh, this is almost as good as dreamcasting Chess.

Let's just keep Taylor Swift far, far away from this!

Looking back, looking forward via the meme I have stolen from various and sundry: 

Which TV shows did you let go of in 2011?
I'm still watching DW and Glee but not in an omgitisairingRIGHTNOWmustwatchinsilence sort of way. And I haven't watched an episode of this season of Leverage, but I WILL!

Which TV shows did you mean to get into but didn't in 2011? Why?
I wanted to watch both Ringer and Revenge and I've seen some of both but not consistently. Mostly because I haven't had enough time.

Which TV shows do you intend on checking out in 2012?
Magic City! Jeff Morgan, running a hotel in Miami Beach that's based on a hotel I can see out my window, which filmed in my neighborhood! YAY!

Which TV show impressed you least in 2011?
I had issues with the season finale of DW. And I still don't believe that Blaine Anderson was a sophomore during Teenage Dream etc last year on Glee. Retconning by showrunners to keep Darren in high school for one more year, yes?

Which TV show do you think you might let go of in 2012 unless things significantly improve?
I may possibly not restart watching Royal Pains. I'm very bored with it. And I have to let go of Chuck! WAH!

Which TV show impressed you the most in 2011? Why?
Supernatural has hit some massive home runs (although there have been serious foul balls, too) and omg ONCE UPON A TIME you are perfect and adorable!

Which TV shows do you think you'll never let go of no matter how crappy they get? Why?
I am with Supernatural until the end, and I don't know if that's this spring, or one year more.

Your main fandom of the year?
Probably Supernatural, but Harry Potter is still around! And I've been dabbling in Thor-Avengers, but I've been in the Iron Man comm since the first movie...

Your favorite film you watched this year?
The movie that impacted me most was definitely Deathly Hallows 2, but LOKI! THOR! - I mean ~*THOR*~ - is a significant second place contender, with The Muppets in third.
Then again, I have not seen Sherlock Holmes 2 yet.
How can I not list DH2, though? The series changed my world, changed my friendships, changed my life. So this cinematic conclusion was massively impactful.

Your favorite book read this year?
HUNGER GAMES. Probably the whole trilogy because I loved the story and Katniss/Peeta relationship in the first book, the worldbuilding and Finnick in the second book, and many of the concepts - if not the execuitons - pun intended - in the third book. Cannot WAIT for the movie and hoping it makes enough money to justify a sequel because Jared Padalecki needs to play Finnick.
Other than HG, I absolutely loved Lev Grossman's Magician King, liked the concept and a lot of elements of Ready Player One and the concept if not the specifics of The Story of Us.

Your favorite tv show of the year?
Does The Muppet Show count? No?
Supernatural, then. It's my one and only mustwatchwhileitairs series.

Song of the year?
One Republic's Good Life. I first heard it a few weeks before heading to London for the first time in almost 20 years, and it was perfect walking around Leicester Square and down to Picadilly listening to it.

Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
TOM HIDDLESTON. I... I just do not have a reasonable explanation. But this deleted scene is my justifiable if unreasonable explanation.
Also, I have finally discovered tumblr. My shame and my joy, they are apparent.

Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
Livejournal is a disappointment in their treatment of many of their users. Why, LJ, seriously? Test your damned code on your userbase and if they say it sucks, it may very well do so. And the new DJ Earworm mashup of the songs of 2011 isn't as amazing as the ones from 2009 or 2010. May not vid it.

Your biggest squee moment of the year?
Jason Isaacs showing up at my Harry Potter panel at Comic Con! And the entire week in London around the HP premiere, including but not limited to seeing David Tennant and Catherine Tate in Much Ado because it was insane and hilarious and brilliant and perfect. I wish I'd had time to see it a second time.

Your biggest fan anticipations for the coming year?
AVENGERS! Loki throws Tony out the window! And if the Central Park photos are really the ending, then SQUEE.
The Hobbit! I saw the trailer in 3D today and it is going to be mind blowingly gorgeous, isn't it?
Seeing Darren Criss in How to Succeed for my birthday with fandom friends!
Also, hopefully, a release of David & Catherine's Much Ado on DVD.

For those who don't, what movie(s) are you seeing this weekend? We may be doing Tin Tin tonight, and my dad wants to take the boys to see Warhorse. Which I want to see as well because, well, Hiddleston (and Cummerbatch) but I may not get to. Back to the Muppets for me, which is ftw too.

If you aren't Christmassing and have some free time, Ascendio Formal Programming submissions are due in February, so winter break/the holidays are a perfect time to think about what you want to
present on - or even give the programming chairs (Anastasia of No LJ and femme_quixotic a fantastic gift by submitting a proposal.

Off to finish the ginger cookies and latkes! Interesting food combination; goes well with Chinese food.

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SUBJECT LINES! We want them back for ALL styles! I have them because of my S2 and my choice to use the style for Comment pages but they should be available for EVERYONE.

Jeepers, LJ - did you PLAN in ADVANCE for this to be the question today or is it a crazy random happenstance?

Had you not done this, my rant would've been about whether, in ten years time, one should watch Peter Jackson's Middle Earth movies in the order in which they were released, or in chronological order. But you, LJ, were foolist, so it won't be.

C'mon LJ! Backpedal, this one last time.

This vid was created for balefully as part of this year's spn_j2_xmas and it was so much fun to do - I hope you have fun watching it...

Title: Raise Your Glass to the Winchesters (and Friends)!
Author: balefully
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: Ensemble with some Sam/Dean and Various Characters/Booze
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers through 7.10, including for new characters introduced in Season 7.
Set to: "Raise Your Glass" by P!nk
Prompt: She requested a "happy, kick-ass ensemble vid to "Raise Your Glass" by Pink, with everyone happy and drinking and generally being awesome underdogs getting up to all sorts of hijinx. Featuring Sam and Dean and Bobby and John and Jo and Ellen and Bela and EVERYONE..."
Notes: It's not 100% happy, but I hope it's kick-ass, and it's very ensemble-ish. balefully, thank you SO much for the awesome prompt! This was so much fun to make! And technically, it's now the fourth in my series of Winchesters/Liquor fanvids, so it's clearly a theme I enjoy. I hope you like it!

It's on YouTube at the best holiday video url ever: http://youtu.be/tvTfw_XMiss - it was completely random, but consider it a holiday gift from YouTube. It's also( behind the cut )

Or download the high-res version on Megaupload. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Now I am off to deal with Yuletiding, where I am verging on omgwtfBEARS.

This vid was created for balefully as part of this year's spn_j2_xmas and it was so much fun to do - I hope you have fun watching it...

Title: Raise Your Glass to the Winchesters (and Friends)!
Author: balefully
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: Ensemble with some Sam/Dean and Various Characters/Booze
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers through 7.10, including for new characters introduced in Season 7.
Set to: "Raise Your Glass" by P!nk
Prompt: She requested a "happy, kick-ass ensemble vid to "Raise Your Glass" by Pink, with everyone happy and drinking and generally being awesome underdogs getting up to all sorts of hijinx. Featuring Sam and Dean and Bobby and John and Jo and Ellen and Bela and EVERYONE..."
Notes: It's not 100% happy, but I hope it's kick-ass, and it's very ensemble-ish. balefully, thank you SO much for the awesome prompt! This was so much fun to make! And technically, it's now the fourth in my series of Winchesters/Liquor fanvids, so it's clearly a theme I enjoy. I hope you like it!

It's on YouTube at the best holiday video url ever: http://youtu.be/tvTfw_XMiss - it was completely random, but consider it a holiday gift from YouTube. It's also( behind the cut )

Or download the high-res version on Megaupload. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Now I am off to deal with Yuletiding, where I am verging on omgwtfBEARS.

LJ is reportedly about to discontinue having Subject lines in Replies to posts, and changing the way the Expand feature works, as per discussion here. Given my work on the help_haiti comm, I have feelings that I wanted to expand beyond my initial do not want so here's what I posted here news.

Hi! About two years ago, I founded the LJ comm help_haiti to fundraise and host an auction to support the rescue of survivors and the rebuilding of Haiti after one of the worst earthquakes on record.

The LiveJournal platform was wonderfully suited for our auction to take place on, in large part because the subject lines of the Offerings were informative and evocative, and because of the ability to Expand a discussion to bidders could easily see all the threads.

Because of the way the community was organized on LiveJournal, we raised about 125,000 for charities that helped Haiti and its citizens.

In the ensuing 23 months, over a dozen communities, including help_chile, help_japan and others, have been created with similar purposes and missions, and astoundingly fantastic fundraising totals.

We at help_haiti greatly appreciated the support that LiveJournal gave to the project; it was the first time that LJ had set up a Virtual Gift tied to a specific community's fundraising project, and it was promoted by news. Authors like Neil Gaiman posted about it and promoted the project on their Twitter feeds and blogs. It brought people to LJ who hadn't been here before.

At the time, we appreciated LJ's support of the project and since then, as I said, other charitable projects have as well.

These projects will not be able to be hosted on LiveJournal if Subject Lines are eliminated from the Reply process. It will be difficult, if not impossible, to host such projects on LiveJournal if Offerors and Bidders can't Expand the comment threads.

Please, reconsider the design, so that beneficial, charitable, helpful projects like this can continue when needed.

+1s and contrary opinions are both appreciated.