Adventures in cooking continue… Abigail made more plum jam at the weekend, this time using a sugar thermometer. We thought it might be too runny but we trusted the equipment and lo and behold, perfectly set jam! That also tastes amazing. And passed the Mammy/Nanny test so yay! She also decided to make lemon drizzle cake on a rainy Monday and oh my lord it was the nicest thing I’ve eaten in ages. Anyone who tried it said the same. She was delighted.

She also had fun with Grandad and went out with him to buy an apple tree for the back garden. (Their back garden, as in my home house back garden, not the house I live in currently). Which was duly planted and then Dad got an idea. Why not pull down the rotten trees on the property line between our house and my uncle’s next door (they’ve been in flitters since an unfortunate bonfire incident about twelve years ago and oh boy is that a whole ‘nother journal entry) and put apple trees in their place? Long story short, five more apple trees are being delivered tomorrow. Abigail is delighted. Mam thinks we have all lost our minds. Considering Abigail spent a fair bit of today driving Dad’s ride on lawnmower, I’m not sure she’s wrong, but at least she’s happy!

And in fandom news, my copy of “What’s Next” The West Wing book written by Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack arrived on Tuesday. It is almost 600 pages of behind the scenes anecdotes (seriously, it’s huge!) and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I’m enjoying it so much that I feel a rewatch coming on. Himself has never seen an episode - I know! - and I’m almost nervous to show it to him because if he doesn’t like it, I will simply have to divorce him. We shall see.

Random blathering to make a post...

The West Wing season seven, and more especially "Election Day part one" - it was on here on Sky Atlantic a couple of days ago and I ended up watching it again. I'd forgotten the cuteness of all the hook ups between the Santos campaign at the start, and the wonder that was the "AT LAST!" of Josh and Donna. But am I the only person who, when Annabeth starts walking down the corridor at the end, turns it off? Because I watched it to the end when it aired but I've turned it off every time since!

In a similar note, I watched part two with breakfast this morning. And cried. You'd think eleven years would make it easier but no!

In more recent tv news, I'm catching up on The Flash and ok, fine, I accept that my favourite Joe is not of the desired demographic and post Barry's trip to the future they all have only one thing in mind. But nobody, not one person has referenced the CAPTAIN Joe West of the ticker? I thought that it might be just that Cisco/Barry hadn't paid attention to that part of it but then in the start of "Attack on Gorrila City" there are several close ups of Barry, board in full view behind him, Cpt Joe West writ clear as day on it! Does no one care that Joe is apparently in for a promotion? Or is no one worried about how Singh might vacate his office to facilitate such a promotion? Just me then? Ok.

That meme that I was trying to do last week...

Comment here if you want to play, and I will give you three-six couples that I associate with you, and you make an entry in your journal talking about those couples and fics that you wish the universe would write for you.

Danny/Kono, Hawaii Five-0(
The ship of my heart on that show and I've just seen ep 1.03 on repeat on Sky this morning and this has inspired me to write about them! (And wow, the show was so much better written then. But anyway). I love those two together; certainly in season one Danny needs to chill out and relax on Hawaii and Kono is just the person to help him do it. Plus she won't take any of his crap! I want fic about the two of them after 1.03 where they're kissing undercover and he apologises if he went too far with the pawing of her and all (I have written this but I want someone else's take on it!) and she's like don't be such an idiot, it's fine and when he keeps apologising she grabs him and kisses him just to shut him up. I want fic set in the pilot where he held her hand a minute too long when he shook it and then Chin's all like, don't be getting any ideas with my cousin. Or fic about where he gave her his Saint's medal when she graduated and how much it means to her, or where her mentor was killed and he was there for her.... seriously, early season one was all over the Danny/Kono moments and I miss that! Also, anything to do with the Danny-can't-sext thing is always good!

Veronica Weevil, Veronica Mars
Oh how can people look at season one and not ship them? It makes no sense to me! I want fic about the two of them that tells us about what happened to them in the year between Lilly's murder and the pilot ep. Because Weevil trusts her, or at least knows her from the get go and there's no way he would trust an 09er princess, not even if she was Lilly's best friend. I want to know did they know one another before that, what circles they move in that would have intersected. I definitely want fic post movie where they're both trying to clean up Neptune and his wife has left him and taken the child and she's finding out that the new Logan is not the Logan that she knew and they don't work any more. (Not that, IMO, they ever did that well, but YMMV.) I want to see them falling for one another and resisting the hell out of it because she's gunshy and he still loves his wife.
The real wish I have? Universe altered/fix it fic where she knew about what he was doing and the news that he was married with a child was not news to her. (Yes, I know why they did it, but infodump is not a good reason to eff up such a good relationship!).

For Vegawriters...
Sara/Warrick, CSI
The whole enemies turning into friends/lovers trope is made for them. I fell for that the minute I saw them and the I-15 Murders just solidified it in my mind. I love that for two people who had all the reason in the world to distrust one another, they ended up being really good friends, to the point that you could see her pain when he died and he actually said to Grissom that since Sara left Vegas he felt lost and disconnected. He didn't take any crap from her, nor she from him and they always had one another's backs.
I want fic for these two first of all where he doesn't die! That's my number one preference!
I want to see them supporting one another, being there for one another, whether that's to do with Tina or Grissom or the child, I don't mind. I'd love to see something where Warrick is a single dad, trying to raise Eli and Sara doesn't want kids, has never wanted kids, but Eli starts to worm his way into her heart and she takes on the mothering role without even realising it. (And if Eli's older and starts to do a Parent Trap thing, I would love that!) Or something from the first few seasons, before she got together with Grissom but she and Warrick had some sort of fling... maybe post season four where she's dealing with the drinking and he knows what it's like to have an addiction... or he's angry at her for driving under the influence because a drunk driver killed his mother and he doesn't want to believe she'd be that person.

A West Wing pairing of my choosing
I cannot choose just one, there are too many! If I had to pick, I would probably pick Will/Kate, which I know I'm in the minority about but I liked as a pairing back in season seven. (WW fandom back in the day was so much fun, great writers, a multishipper's heaven, where you could find practically anything you wanted for any pairing, and if you couldn't, you floated an idea on a mailing list and someone would do the necessary!) I liked their awkwardness and the idea that they were trying to make this thing work, trying to fly under the radar and just were so bad at it! I'd like fic for them where Kate does go to Oregon with Will, or at least follows him there. I have an idea in my head that she takes a job at some defence company and she hates it and after one bad day she can't take it any more and surprises him at his campaign headquarters/home and basically never leaves. He does his campaigning and she writes her book and she dedicates it to him (because he taught her love is not a four letter word) and they live happily and awkwardly ever after. Or I want to see them talking at the library dedication where he wonders what happened to them and why they could never make it work and she doesn't know either and they decide to go out to dinner and make it work all over again... there is so much potential for these two!

Link of adorable.... Article about Mark Ruffalo finding out Bruce/Tony was a thing in fandom. here. I do love that man.

More WW conversation in the staff room today as J has finally managed to source season two. (Remember the girl who watched the season one finale unknowingly without having two to hand?) She was wondering how long ago it was and does it date itself and while the other girls were guessing, I came out with "Season one was 1999-2000 but the only one that dates itself at all is season three because that aired right after 9-11 and they put in a special episode "Isaac and Ishmael" before they showed the opening two parter." I did not have to think about any of that; they looked at me like I had ten heads. Ah fandom, the years may pass but you never really leave us.

Fic rec! Stargate Atlantis -- pay off Rodney McKay/Jennifer Keller, prompt was "this was not your dream, but you always believed in me."

AHHA!!!! I am watching the West Wing episode Game On with commentary,where Aaron Sorkin and Josh Malina are in the commentary team, and when Will and Elsie have their first scene together, Josh asks Aaron if he had, at that point, decided that Elsie was in fact Will's half sister. (He says half sister; I thought Will tells Toby in ep 9 that they're step siblings. I may be wrong)

Aaron says that no, he had not in fact decided that.

Josh then goes on to say that he's glad he and Danica McKellar never played anything intentional between the two of them, that might make people think that there was something between them.

My question. Did he LOOK at the same episodes that I did?

Ahem.

I realise everyone else on the planet might have listened to the commentary already; nonetheless, I am basking in the rightness of me!

I have to ask - if there's anyone on ye olde F-list who uses Firefox? Is your Adobe Flash plugin playing silly beggars or is it just mine?

Have finally got it to work and since I've been walking down memory lane, I found this one Youtube...



And something that might prove interesting if I ever manage to write anything again...a montage of all the Kate/Will scenes. I loved Kate and Will together!

Pimpage!!! The West Wing Comment Prompt Fic post being run by raedbard

I'm here in the sitting room looking at bad tv after a long day, and I flick on RTE's Afternoon Show and get the run down on what's going to be on it. One of the items?

"How to carry off crimping."

Yes, crimping your hair, complete with picture of Tyra Banks and her 80s style crimped hair.

My question is not so much as how to carry it off, as why on earth would you want to?

In other thoughts, tenyearsoftww? Not sure I'll be able to write anything for it (I seem unable to be happy with so much as a shopping list these days!) but it interests me!

Just found out that Ron Silver has passed away... and in the spirit of remembering him, you can all have one of my favourite ever West Wing quotes, from War Crimes

SAM
Why are you so bent on carrying these idiot leaflets?

BRUNO
'Cause I am tired of working for candidates who make me think I should be embarrassed to believe what I believe, Sam. I'm tired of getting them elected. We all need some therapy,
because somebody came along and said "liberal" means soft on crime, soft on drugs, soft on
Communism, soft on defense, and we're gonna tax you back to the Stone Age because people shouldn't have to go to work if they don't want to. And instead of saying "Well, excuse me, you right-wing, reactionary, xenophobic, homophobic, anti-eductaion, anti-choice, pro-gun, 'Leave it to Beaver' trip back to the fifties," we cowered in the corner and said "Please, don't hurt me." No more. I really don't care who's right, who's wrong. We're both right. We're both wrong. Let's have two parties, huh? What do you say?

TOBY
I agree.