I should be in bed. But I'm playing stupid Facebook games with TNT on in the background, and Numb3rs is on. Totally not my show -- it involves way too much math.

But I look up and Tamara Taylor's on. And I go, "Huh. Cam."

And then I look up again, and Aldis Hodge is on. "Hardison!"

Actors from two of my fandoms on the same episode of a show I don't normally watch. What are the odds? (Hey, a math pun!)

Plus, I DVRed the Angel episode Dead End the other day ("Evil Hand!"), and I was watching it earlier, and every time I looked up, there was a promo for either Bones or Leverage in the corner of the screen.

So many fandoms, so little time...

So now that I got all my babbling for The Studio Job out of the way, I can commence babbling for The Gone Fishin' Job.

Long. But probably not as long as the last one.

( WARNING! SPOILERS FOR THE GONE FISHIN' JOB! BEWARE! )

Good epi. Not as good as last week's, but entertaining. Can't wait till next week!

One final note -- I went to find an icon to use on this post, and ended up downloading about thirty. *headdesk*

I was getting ready to type up my reactions to The Gone Fishin' Job, and I realized that I never posted what I'd written up for The Studio Job. So here goes -- fair warning: 'tis long. Very long.

( SPOILERS FOR THE STUDIO JOB! BEWARE! )

Okay, so, that was a ton of words to say I really liked the episode!

I'll post my thoughts on last night's episode as soon as I type them up.

I've had this written for almost a week, but I couldn't think of a freaking title!

SPOILERS FOR SEASON 3 UP TO THE STUDIO JOB! BEWARE!

Performance Review
By Ralkana

( Teamwork is all about keeping those lines of communication open... )

Will be cross-posted to geteven_getfic and leverage_fic.

There's a poll asking who would win in a fight, Eliot or Booth.

And Booth is winning.

WTF?

I love Booth (or at least, I used to), but no way in hell, man.

Eliot would kick Booth's ass with one hand and blindfolded.

People are like, oh, Booth has a gun, he could just shoot him.

...yeah. Let me know how that works out for him.

Oh, Booth's an ex-Ranger, trained in hand-to-hand.

Mm hmm. Sure.

This would, however, be a fight I'd give up a limb to watch. Especially if there's oil involved...

I am still mulling over my impressions of last night's episodes. I'll post them either tonight or tomorrow. Short version: loved 3.03, had... issues with 3.04. Hence this fic.

SPOILERS FOR SEASON 3 UP TO 3.04, THE SCHEHERAZADE JOB! BEWARE!

Breaking Point
By Ralkana

( 'You know those buttons, Nate? You keep pushing, and pushing, and pushing, and something's gonna snap.' )

Will be cross-posted to geteven_getfic and leverage_fic.

Just Deserts
By Ralkana

No spoilers for season three.

( They might be criminals, but some things are just *wrong*! )

Will be cross-posted to geteven_getfic and leverage_fic.

The Lesser of Two Evils
Set anytime, seasons 1-3. Inspired by renisanz.

As usual, the team tried to ignore the sounds of fighting over the comms.

"Dammit!" Eliot snarled, followed by someone else's cut-off scream.

"Eliot?" Nate asked.

"Sonofabitch broke my glasses. Damn things were brand new!"

"Isn't that the third pair this month?" Sophie wondered.

"You have awesome insurance," Hardison reasoned. "LASIK, bro. Wave of... now."

Parker laughed. "You want Eliot to voluntarily go under anesthesia so some guy can aim a laser at his eyes."

"Have you met?" Nate asked, amused.

"Not. Happening," Eliot growled.

Hardison sighed. "Point. Fine, then, Four Eyes. Get back to work."

"You're dead, Hardison. Dead."

Yay! Leverage is back! And since I've only been in the fandom for a few months now (got caught up at warp speed!), this is my first chance to see it live.

First of all, it's exciting to look forward to a show again and get down my thoughts about it right as (or right after) it airs. Haven't really done it for any show in a few seasons now, and I've missed it!

I was just jotting down thoughts as they occurred to me, so they don't really follow the chronology of the episodes. I've mostly kept them separate by episode, but they're all over the place within the epis.

Here goes...

( Thoughts on 3.01 & 3.02. SPOILERS all over the freakin' place! )

Um. Wow. That's a lot of thoughts. But, as I recall, it's normally like that at the beginning of a season. At first, I write whole essays, and then by the fifth episode, I'm like, "Eh. I liked it." or "Wow, that sucked." and that's it. We'll see.

Overall, both were pretty good.

Can't wait for next week! Although, if they keep giving us two hours at a time, we're going to run through half a season real quick here...

Well, the Angels first ever trip to Wrigley Field was a... qualified success. Okay game on Friday (good game until the bottom of the 9th. Seriously, guys? 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th?), great game on Saturday, awful game on Sunday.

12-0 win followed by 12-1 loss. Just when you think things are clicking, you get something like that. Sigh.

Ah, well. Dodgers (boo! hiss!) now, in our house. Should be fun!

*****

I'm in a satellite office this week, and they're not very busy. This means I'll be able to spend some time trying to catch up on 2 1/2 weeks of my f'list, among finishing up a couple of small Leverage fics (1 fic & 2 drabbles) and this other weird fic I'm working on. Hoping for some ficcy productivity this week!

*****

Leverage is back! Squee! Thoughts on both episodes tonight.

Christian Kane announced last month that anyone coming to his June 12th show at Dante's in Portland would have a chance to be an extra in the music video for his song "The House Rules". Oh, and the video would be directed by Tim Hutton.

I'd already been debating driving up for just the concert, so that announcement decided things for me. No way was I passing that up!

I also decided I'd be dragging rcampuzano with me. Not that I had to drag very hard. As soon as I mentioned it, she said, "YES!"

Originally I'd decided to make the 16 hour drive in one day in each direction, planning to just take Friday off and get home really late on Sunday.

Ruth convinced me that this plan was, frankly, insane. And I'm so glad she did. Because, frankly, it is. So we decided to take two days in either direction. Thursday and Friday up, Saturday in Portland, and Sunday and Monday down.

( It was a hell of a trip. )

So that was our trip!

Sorry for the ginormously long trip report, but I want to be sure I don't forget any of it!

Show tickets are bought. We're checked in as video extras. Outfit is figured out. Hotels are booked.

Portland, Christian Kane, and Tim Hutton here we come!

SQUEE!

I cannot wait until next Saturday!

3 days of work before vacation. Dammit.

I just watched an umpire make THE WORST CALL I have ever seen in my life. Armando Galarraga had a perfect game. A PERFECT GAME. He hit the bag for the last out three feet ahead of the runner, and the umpire called it safe.

Every replay shows out. Something has to be done. And that umpire should be fired.

That's fucking ridiculous.

I don't have an icon angry enough.

ETA: Armando Galarraga is one of the most gracious individuals I have ever seen in my life. Poor kid.

Son of ETA: Jim Joyce says, "I just cost that kid a perfect game." You think, asshole? That admission and a dollar might buy you a cup of coffee. Nothing is going to get him his perfect game back.

Seriously?

Kendry Morales hit a game winning grand slam, and then fractured his leg jumping on home plate to celebrate. He's having surgery tomorrow, and he'll be on the 15-day DL. If he's only out for 15 days, I'll be amazed.

Sigh... that's my baseball team's season in a nutshell right there.

*****

Congrats to Roy Halladay on his perfect game! Two perfect games this season, and we're not even halfway through yet!

Hmm... Just realized that absentmindedly singing along to Christian Kane's "Making Circles" at work is not a good idea, especially when your boss walks by just as the f-bomb in the chorus drops...

Good thing it was just my immediate supervisor, who is cool about such things, rather than the VP, who is not.

WHY DO THEY KEEP LETTING BRIAN FUENTES PITCH?!?!

I really need some angry!Eliot icons. There have to be some good ones out there. Anybody know of any?

I'm watching baseball, and there is a fan sitting in the sun in the outfield, and he's not wearing a shirt. His shorts are white, and it totally looks like he's sitting out there in a ballcap and underwear.

There is nobody sitting around him. Maybe he is in his underwear...

Hey, my Angels actually won a game!

First of all, they apparently realized they were holding their bats the wrong way round, or something, because, hey, 8 runs of support!

But mostly because Ervin Santana looked at the bullpen and said, "Uh uh! I've seen what you fools have been up to! I am not handing over my game to you jerks just so you can lose it! I'll finish it my damn self!"

He only gave up 4 hits. Granted three of them were solo shots, but, hey... run support, baby.

If only they could keep that up!

Home Is Where You Make It
By Ralkana

( Alec Hardison is a geek. He's proud of it. Geeks run the world. )

Cross-posted to geteven_getfic and leverage_fic.

Happy Towel Day to the Douglas Adams fans on my f'list, and for the Pratchett fans, Happy Glorious 25th of May.

Where's your towel, and are you wearing your lilac?

My baseball team is freaking painful to watch, man.

I had dinner late last night (around nine), and drank about five glasses of iced tea. Then my friend and I ended up at Starbucks, where I had a slice of cake and a caramel frappacino. Caffeine doesn't normally affect me, but man, it threw me for a loop last night! My mind was racing at 3 a.m. (which was sort of good, as I got two drabbles and a fic out of it), and I didn't fall asleep until after 4, only to wake up at 6. I've been really wired all day, and I'm just now starting to come down.

Gotta come up with titles and synopseseseseses, and then I'll be posting new fic!

Hockey players are not like other athletes.

Chicago defenceman Duncan Keith was hit in the mouth with a puck early during today's game (which led to a goal, to add insult to injury), and lost seven teeth. He returned to the game after several minutes.

SEVEN TEETH!

They're crazy, man...

...and the Sharks are out.

Pardon me while I try to curb the maniacal laughter. Mmm... schadenfreude.

Okay, now that that's done, I can be happy for whoever gets the Cup. All three teams that are left have Cup-winning former Ducks, so I've got somebody to root for no matter what.

Holy crap, Jose Lima died!

A heart attack in a seemingly healthy 37 year old? Something's not right there...

Here goes... my first foray into Leverage fic. It's all genfic -- no pairings. Let me know what you think!

Cross-Training ~ How exactly did it happen that Eliot learned 'that Photoshop thing'? A missing scene from The Wedding Job. Rated light R for language.

Crossing Paths: Eliot's Path ~ A chance encounter stirs up things that are probably better left alone... A crossover fic. Rated R for language.

Drabbles ~ My 100 word stories. Consider them snapshots. Spoilers through season two.

The End of the Argument ~ Anyone really think Hardison got out of cleaning Eliot's truck? An episode tag to The 12 Step Job.

Reflections of a Lone Wolf ~ Eliot works alone. He's always worked alone. He just has to keep telling himself that.

Now I just have to figure out how to post them to the Leverage fic comms...

ETA: Figured it out! Cross-posted at geteven_getfic and leverage_fic.

No, you didn't read that wrong. I have Voyager fic. A ficlet, anyway...

Cutting Ties - Taking a step forward often requires snipping connections to one's past.

Does anyone know where Voyager fic is being posted these days?

So, I ordered pizza like two hours ago, and I specifically ordered a large so I'd have food for the next couple of days, and because it took so long to get here, they gave me an extra pizza. Now I have enough food for like six people. WTF? Thanks, I guess!

In other news, I am tagging all my LJ entries. This will take me approximately six kabillion years...

Hi to all my new Leverage-y friends! I'll be posting fic tomorrow, after I sort out some broken links in the code.

I have fic. I have finished fic. It's all done, it's titled, and summaried, and uploaded. And I haven't posted it. I'm having major new-fandom worries, which is ridiculous. It's not like this is my first rodeo, y'know?

For some reason, I'm totally feeling all new-kid-in-school. What if the other kids don't like me and kick sand at me on the playground?

I don't understand this...

Anyone else ever feel like this when embarking in a new fandom? Or am I just nuts?

Wow! The Flyers are moving on the the conference finals!

First time since 1975, and only the third time in NHL history that a team came back from 0-3 in a series to win a Game 7.

WTF happened to the Bruins?

Sigh... I hate that they always show the crying kids.

ETA: Wow, I only got to see the third period, so I didn't realize that not only did they come back from 0-3 in the series, they came back from 3 goals down in the game!