Nature
*First-of-its-kind narwhal footage. I dunno, whales with horns. It's cool.

Fic
*stefanie_bean has begun a Phantom-related WIP called Kristina: A Fantasy that is sort of AU and fantastic and detailed and realistic at the same time. I like what she's done with the characters so far, because they're not quite the figures you recognize, but you know who they are.

Randomness
*Jane Austen's Wii and Wonderment. Pride and Prejudice reimagined for the Wii. I kept forgetting this wasn't real, and getting upset when I remembered. Of course tkp, being tkp, has very good thoughts about what's wrong with the scenario, with which I agree, but I still think it is very cute and would play it.

*For Seattlites, Vintage Seattle, High-Res Blog Visualizing the Emerald City's Past. Curious about the fact that the Smith Tower was once the tallest building west of the Mississippi (until 1931) and the tallest building in Seattle until the Space Needle (1962), both of which are now dwarfed by the rest of the city, I went looking for old images. (Side note: All those photos of the Space Needle you see are taken from Queen Anne hill, with the Needle in the foreground, so it looks ENORMOUS but it's really not. Ask tkp where it is! She loves that!) Anyway, I enjoyed such posts as this 1907 panorama showing a city not too different in sprawl, but yet to rise. There are a lot of old colored postcards, too.

Advice
*Does anyone know how to do something lj-cut-like on Blogger? I've tried these instructions and can't get them to work. Eh, it's a long shot; I don't expect you to figure out what I'm missing. But it means I can't post my LTROI review, without spoiling.

*Last bit of advice for today: On MLK day, a friend and I watched Jesus of Nazareth all the way through, which was very long and very stupid of us despite the awesome sight of Ian McShane as Judas. What should we watch this upcoming bank holiday? I've considered the Wilson/Stephens Jane Eyre and North and South because she hasn't seen them, but what might I not have seen I should? We're talking mini-series, in the 3-5 hour range, I think, and I've seen P&P and Anne A LOT. Let me hear 'em; I know it's hard to tell what I've seen or not, but throw it at me and see what sticks.

Survey: What a Billion Muslims Really Think on Talk of the Nation. Ambitiously titled, but interesting findings from a Gallup poll conducted face to face with Muslims around the world.

From emily_shore (I got it right this time): "The Only Moral Abortion is My Abortion": When the Anti-Choice Choose. This is a fascinating, frustrating read, whatever your views.

A few weeks ago, This American Life was about testosterone. There was a man who used to be a woman talking about how getting T affected him. The crew of TAL all got their testosterone levels checked. Very interesting. But all the stuff this one guy was describing about how his body stopped producing enough--the lack of focus, the lack of passion--sounded so much like me. Hmm. If I didn't mind the body hair...

I'm sad I'm not involved in any "real" fandoms, and therefore cannot take part in the remix thing everyone's doing. Not that I have time. It's the principle of the thing!

Speaking of which, ghostwritten2 wrote the awesomest X-Files badfic I hope she doesn't mind me linking to. I love her so much, even her badfic is awesomesauce.

There should be more POTO fic writing encouragement. It's too bad those LJ communities for contests and prompts and stuff died. Those of you who are (or should be) involved at The Fifth Cellar, don't hesitate to post challenges for people.

#I just realized I'm feeding Mr. Darcy all natural free-range chicken strips. For dogs.

#It's time to go through the cd collection again and put everything in the right cases. You have no idea how much I wanted to listen to Joseph Arthur's Big City Secrets right now. But it's roughly equal to how disappointed I am that I can't.

#I got birthday money. But I've suddenly become old and responsible, and I can't rationalize spending it on presents for myself. Because I do that all the time, don't I?

#The best bit of last week's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me: Upon quoting Bush saying he's "the commander guy," someone said, "Do you ever get the feeling Stan Lee's scripting this entire administration?" Excelsior, True Believers!

#There is entirely too much waiting in my life right now. No word on house or auditions. That's on top of general anxiety over hiking for 5 days next week and book proposals.

#Embarrassing fact: I've been listening to 70's soft rock. I have no idea why, except that it was probably what I heard most growing up, so now I feel all squishy and nostalgic. Don't tell anyone.

#This video of a dancing horse is awesome. Yes, I know it's called dressage. But still! It's cool! Thanks to... was it synaesthete7?

#If I was either more clever or less lazy, I'd have bolded words or letters to spell a message to you. But I am not either of those things.

#The fact that there are Japanese girls doing Phantom in drag is just about the most awesome thing ever.

#The phone rang while I was typing this. It was not a casting director or a real estate agent. It was my best friend, so that was cool. But come on!