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kate_nepveu is looking to buy 2 memberships to this year's World Fantasy Con. Anybody who has them (and doesn't want them), please contact her.

Antisoppist has written a lovely Wimsey fic, containing points of view from both Marjorie Phelps and Harriet Vane, although you probably won't appreciate it unless you've read both THe Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club and hte Strong Poison trilogy.

I wish DVD players came with two separate volume controls. Then you could control the dialogue track separately from the background noises track, and maybe filter out the background. I know, I know, I'm dreaming. DVD's don't work that way. But I was watching the first episode of Series 1 of Doctor Who (I know, it's not *really* Series 1, but I've forgotten which season it is in the greater Who chronology. Anyway, the one with Nine).

The point is there was so much background noise that I could barely hear the dialogue. I can't figure out if it's a fault of the individual DVD, or if the sound was mixed really badly. I ended up sending the disc back, because there didn't seem much point in watching it when I couldn't hear what was being said. I don't remember problems like this when I watched it on TV back in the day.

The rental place sent me the first few discs of Fringe Season 1 instead. It's uneven, but I'm enjoying it greatly. And Olivia Dunham is awesomecake topped with awesomesauce. One thing I don't understand, though: Olivia's supposed to be American, yes? It's just that she sometimes has this weird accent I can't place. And Walter Bishop sounds like he has a slight German accent. I'm not complaining about the accents, just curious.

I watched the Chelsea/Juventus match and it wasn't half bad. But the new boy, Oscar, looks about 14. According to Wikipedia he just turned 21, but I persist in seeing him as a wee boy accidentally wandered over from the youth team, and who shouldn't have big grown-up players crashing into him. I think it's because he's skinny and gawky and has a baby face and prominent adam's apple.

Did you know that Cavalier King Charles spaniels are named after Charles II? I always thought they were named after Charles I (his father, who lost his head). Speaking of small, cute, fluffy dogs, the sister is back from her cruise and Venus Flytrap is now sporting an adorable neckerchief that proclaims him to be an Alaska sled dog. Alas, he stubbornly resisted all my attempts to take photos of him with his cute neckerchief on.

I have seen an awful lot of photos of the sister all bundled up with spectacular scenery in the background, but kept being assured, "It wasn't cold, really." I dunno about that. Also a few ocean pictures that allegedly contain humpback whales, but I had to take her word for it. After a while she wisely decided to stop trying to take photos of the contrary whales and just enjoy watching them.