Ah, the mass email splurge I get when Fanlore changes their category system and does mass-edits...

( Screenshot )

While doing some (late) spring cleaning on Kamibana, I realized that I'm 4 years behind on Mutsumix's ItaSasu Valentines Specials.

So much cuteness.

I still love ItaSasu so much.

I have so many old hard drives. Going back through them is like going through the strata of my life.

I just dug up an old doujinshi I'd scanned -- and I know it's old because it was three hard drives ago! I have barely any other sense of time except what computer I was using when I did something.

Help! Old doujinshi friends. I need this doujinshi from a Japanese yahoo auction, but it'll only ship to Japan. I need a third party in Japan to order it and send it to me.

Can anyone recommend an individual or service in Japan who will order this and send it my way in the States? Are any services recommended these days? If it's an individual, I'll of course cover all fees plus extra for their service.

It's been too long since I've ordered doujinshi through any means other than an LJ sales post or ebay. I've never used an official service; I've always gotten help from LJ users or online manga friends, and I'm not sure that I have those contacts anymore.

Time matters, since the auction ends in two days. :x Any suggestions? ♥

*

[ETA] I'm looking at Rinkya, but I'm wary of any service that might add on more mystery fees throughout the process for the hell of it, and it looks like Rinkya's system is designed to do just that. And its high commission fee: so as long as the auction (I think it's just the auction) stays at 1000 yen or less, I don't get charged a $20 commission fee. But as soon as that hits 1001 yen, the $20 fee gets added on. Goodness, that's a bit of a jump in price considering the cost of the item is only about $10.01 (well, more like $13 since the dollar is shit).

That's in addition to a $15 handling fee - that includes the few dollars cost of shipping within Japan, and might or might not cover other things.

Anyone have experience with them to offer reassurances? Or advice to run away?

I want the doujinshi, but not at any cost.

Quick summary of recent events:
* SOPA and PIPA bills are up in the USA; support was in favor.
* Internet stands up against them, including major sites such as Wikipedia and Google "blacking out" in protest.
* Support for SOPA and PIPA drops drastically, and it becomes apparent neither will pass.
* FBI and the US Justice department seize the Megaupload domain, seize servers including foreign servers, and extradite Megaupload's employees from other countries - notably New Zealand.
* Internet in general freaks out. And by "internet in general" I mean Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook....
* Anonymous (hacktivist group) retaliates by DDOSing websites for: the FBI, the Justice Department, MPAA, RIAA, and others.

The upcoming battle...
Internet & Anonymous & Megaupload
vs.
FBI & DoJ & Music Corporations
...is going to be more interesting than anything I could have exclusively watched on Megaupload. *chin-hands*

But hell, I've lost a lot of files when Megaupload went down.

( Misc links and interesting tidbits, including fandom + megaupload )

I saw the midnight showing and it's now past 6am, so I'm posting this half-asleep, half-thought out, and half-finished, because I don't want to stay up any longer but I want it posted now.

Onwards to my thoughts, squee, and criticisms of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows!
( Including spoilers and overuse of the words perfect and great. )

RottenTomatoes.com has a cute mini-gallery following the history of Holmes on the big screen: 24 Frames: The History of Holmes. It's enjoyable.

After Basil Rathbone's films, the gallery lists A Study in Terror (1965) and says this:
"In his first story written for the big screen, Sherlock (this time portrayed by John Neville) sniffs out Jack the Ripper's bloody trail."

I'm glad they found an excuse to squeeze in A Study in Terror... but I'm not sure what that excuse is. "His first story written for the big screen" isn't right, since there were plenty of stories, adapted and original, on the big screen already; most of Rathbone's Holmes stories were contemporary originals of him fighting Nazis. If they meant the first story written for the big screen since Rathbone, then that was The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) with Peter Cushing as Holmes. I bet they meant the first original story since Rathbone. But whatever, I'm being picky. It's Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper, it should be listed at all costs.

Then it says this: "Robert Downey Jr. is the first actor invited back to play the big-screen character again since Basil Rathbone."
My first reaction was, "no way, there's been a ton of Holmes," and then I went to find one. Surely Peter Cushing played him twice, but I checked: he was in Hound in 1959 on the big screen, but all his subsequent portrayals were TV including The Masks of Death in 1984. Vasili Livanov - nope, his were TV movies. Christopher Lee, TV movies. Jeremy Brett, while very popular, was solely on the Granada channel. There have been plenty of actors portraying Holmes multiple times, but all on television or straight-to-video movies. It's been 72 years since the same actor played Holmes on the big screen for a second time. Mind = blown.

Of the sixteen films/series' listed, I've seen all but two: Sherlock Holmes (1922) with John Barrymore and The Speckled Band (1931) with Raymond Massey. This needs to be rectified.

And of course I will be seeing Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows later this week. Midnight showing, yeah!

Just saw last week's Glee. My new most favorite line ever (that I won't remember in a week):
"I didn't know Backdraft was a musical! :D"
- Finn, who's a little dense
Context definitely matters.

Saw Contagion last night. It was very enjoyable: Great cast, good plot, good build, intelligent... In addition to the epidemic spreading, it shows how rumors work, how people (and corporations) maneuver to make money off the fear of the public and use lies to do it, how the ones who are actually doing good work can be demonized in public. As an added bonus, it has strong female characters. It was overall just good entertainment.

Neverland is my new favorite series in the whole world. It's too bad it has such a tiny fandom. I might write more on its epicness later. Neverland was written and directed by Nick Willing, who also did Alice which I liked (oh, Andrew Lee Potts as Hatter, *fans self*), and Tin Man which I haven't seen yet but I'll definitely be watching it this week. He's now my favorite Syfy miniseries writer/director ever, and I hope he does more. Charlie Rowe was a great Peter Pan, and a great actor in general.

I bought several of Carole Nelson Douglas' Irene Adler (Sherlock Holmes spin-off) books, and am starting Good Night, Mr. Holmes. Looking forward to them!

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows comes out in just a few days. Be still, my beating heart. ♥ ♥ ♥

( All the problems the OTW is currently facing are fixable. But they must be recognized, acknowledged, and addressed to be fixed. )

I believe in what the OTW stands for. That's why I'm writing this.
That's why I endorse these four candidates, who recognize, acknowledge, and have addressed the problems facing the OTW:
Julia Beck
Jenny Scott-Thompson
Nikisha Sanders
Betsy Rosenblatt

That said, I have no illusions that Naomi will not be elected again. She has a highly recognizable name and her fanbase remains strong. I just hope the discussions this election have shown her that there are problems that need her consideration, her attention, her acknowledgment, and the org's resources to fix. If she's not going to fix them herself, then she needs to give those who will be working on them her encouragement and yield those resources. Fingers crossed.