The City Watch

For those who write about crime

Jun. 10th, 2011 at 7:21 PM

Kindle edition of FBI Handbook of Crime Scene Forensics is available on Amazon for 99 cents!

www.amazon.com/Handbook-Crime-Scene-Forensics-ebook/dp/B001IDYGJE/ref=sr_1_482

Current Mood: excited

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Yuletide! (#$*%&_@!!

Dec. 26th, 2009 at 7:58 PM

I'm feeling pretty stupid as I try to navigate the AO3 site for Yuletide. I didn't write anything - I just like to surf it once it's done, cherry-picking from fave fandoms and fandoms that would never have occurred to me but are neverthesess awesome.

But...I can't seem to do it. If you select by date the archive limits you to one thousand entries. If you select by tag, it doesn't bring up all the entries (does it? I've seen multiple recommendations but can't find the stories except from direct link.) There's no "Yuletide 2009" option that brings up all the entries for the year - is there? Am I just not seeing it?

It's not that I don't get why the archive is overwhelmed - I'm not talking about not being able to get into it. I'm talking about when it's working - and I still can't find anything. Anyone else having problems, or is it just me? Am I missing something obvious?

I'm trapped in the house by the blizzard with hours of free time for reading. This will never happen again. Grrr.

Current Location:under the snowdrift
Current Mood: frustrated
Current Music:NBA

Ungrateful = ME

Dec. 24th, 2009 at 2:20 PM

So, I had to go to work today because I only have 14 hours paid time off for the holidays and I have guests coming in next Friday, and, of course, I want Christmas off. So I figured I could wedge in about 7 hours of work today and get home early to wrap presents. When I left this morning it was damp and rainy but driveable. Four hours later, my sister called and told me to go the hell home ASAP. We're having a surprise blizzard! (Surprise in the sense that we were supposed to have 2-4 inches - so much for the vaunted Oklahoma weatherpeople/radar.)

I have never prayed so much in my life as I drove home. I had about 3 inches of visibility through my windshield into white-out conditions and I spun out three times - not to mention the idiots who thought this was passing-at-speed weather. But I made it home safe, as did my mother.

So why am I ungrateful? I got stuck at the bottom of my driveway! My car is going to be buried in the snow!

I know, tiny violins playing just for me, right?

Hope everyone is safe and has a very Merry!

Current Location:home and warm
Current Mood: pissed off
Current Music:weatherpeople

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real life

Am totes geniyusss!

Aug. 19th, 2009 at 9:49 PM

Ganked from

karaokegal ...

I guess the English degree was good for something.

Your result for The Commonly Confused Words Test...

English Genius

You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 100% Expert!

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go!

Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!

For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/.

Take The Commonly Confused Words Test at HelloQuizzy

3 banners for 2009 Summer of Giles

Jul. 31st, 2009 at 2:03 AM

I've basically failed at keeping up with Summer of Giles this year - I'm going to have to go back and look at all the entries. But I love the comm and of course Giles. I have three more banners I've done using one of my favorite first year publicity photos. GilesWithCane FTW!

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Star Trek banner part 2 plus icons

Jul. 25th, 2009 at 6:16 PM

I've been playing with this picture for a while (see previous post) because I wanted a nice candid of all of the new crew. I also wanted Kirk in the gold shirt.

Clicking on it a few times should get you to full sized. Please comment if taking. Credit is nice. Feel free to use as a base

Current Mood: creative

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Star Trek banner

Jul. 12th, 2009 at 11:45 PM

I loved the promo image of the crew that we got before the movie came out, but obviously it was missing someone. Here's my altered version that has everyone included.

Please comment if taking. Credit is appreciated. Feel free to use as a base.
Clicking on it several times should get you to the original (large) size. Please do not hotlink.

ETA: please see next post for banner. ComputerFuFail!

Current Mood: happy
Current Music:ESPN

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Entry for Summer of Giles 2009

Jun. 17th, 2009 at 9:48 PM

I've been experimenting with making stencils of photos lately, and the results of that are my contribution for Summer of Giles 2009. (See posting icon.) There are 5 icons, 10 banners and 10 wallpapers. For the wallpaper, just click on the sample a few times until it's full-sized, then save.

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Star Trek XI - Novelization versus movie

May. 13th, 2009 at 8:23 PM

I always find comparision between original shooting scripts and the final product interesting, because it can give you a decent picture into the aims and priorities of the moviemakers. The tie-in novel is usually based on the early shooting script rather than the final product, so you can get an idea about dialogue changes and cut scenes.

But you have to remember that the internal dialogue of the characters is based on the author's conclusions of what the script means, so that can alter the characterization in some ways. Still, Alan Dean Foster is a pretty good writer, so I ponied up for the book. My verdict: Not bad, though it suffers for the dialogue changes.

I thought I'd offer a bit of a comparison for those who plan to fanfic, though. I subscribe to the "It's only canon if it's on screen" school of thought, but I tend to include the cut stuff I like. I like to have my cake and eat it, too.

Current Mood: thoughtful

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Icons - War Posters, The Princess Bride, NCIS, Doctor Who, Torchwood

May. 7th, 2009 at 12:13 AM

Total Icon Count: 132

WWII Propaganda Posters: 29 icons

The Princess Bride: 57 icons, mostly quotes

Doctor Who: 32 icons, from Titanic Xmas Special and Series 4, episode 1

Torchwood: 4 icons, from Series 2, Episode 8

NCIS: 10 icons

NOTE: the animated Donna icons under the DW section are actually smaller than 100x100 and aren't pixellated. The table generator makes them bigger.

Please comment if taking. Credit is appreciated. Textless may be used as bases. Please DO NOT HOTLINK.

Caps for DW and TW mostly from Emma-Jane. Caps for The Princess Bride from the LJ community inadream_caps.

Teasers:

TEASER! Icon 031 TEASER! Icon 052 TEASER! Icon 096

Current Mood: cranky

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Anybody out there trying to lose some weight?

May. 4th, 2009 at 7:01 PM

I 've recently begun Jazzercise, which I'm finding quite challening and fun as a rhythm-deficient person. The program I'm in involves nutrition as well as excercise, and unfortunately began with a weigh-in. I've managed to avoid scales for about a decade (I look away at the doctor's office), so this was a pretty bad wake-up call. For the record, I have discovered that I definitely AM lying on my driver's license. But hopefully not for long.

Check behind the cut for the best motivational picture I have ever used.

Current Mood: hungry

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fun stuff

Icons - Doctor Who, Torchwood

Apr. 24th, 2009 at 11:19 PM

Total Icon Count: 124

Doctor Who: Series 3, Episodes 7-13, 110 icons

Torchwood: Series 2, Episode 7, 14 icons

Please comment if taking. Credit is appreciated. Textless may be used as bases. PLEASE DO NOT HOTLINK - hotlinking made me exceed my available bandwidth last month. Please save to your own hosting site or computer.

Caps for most icons from Emma-Jane.

Teasers:

TEASER! Icon 016 TEASER! Icon 057 TEASER! Icon 064

Current Mood: complacent
Current Music:Bones

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Icons - Doctor Who, Torchwood

Apr. 15th, 2009 at 12:07 AM

Total Icon Count: 134

Doctor Who: Runaway Bride plus Series 3, Episodes 1-6, 88 icons

Torchwood: Series 2, Episode 6, 46 icons

Please comment if taking. Credit is appreciated. Textless may be used as bases.

Most caps for icons from Emma-Jane.

Please do not hotlink! Hotlinking exceeded my bandwidth last month. If you have previously hotlinked my icons, please go back and save to your own computer/hosting site. Thanks!

Teasers:

TEASER! Icon 038 TEASER! Icon 044 TEASER! Icon 054

Current Mood: creative

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BSG Series Finale

Mar. 22nd, 2009 at 12:39 PM

Otherwise know as "First, let's kill all the

Current Mood: cranky

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misc television

Icons - Torchwood and Doctor Who

Mar. 21st, 2009 at 12:43 AM

Total Icon Count: 116

Doctor Who: Series 2, Episodes 8-13, 89 icons

Torchwood: Series 2, Episode 5, 27 icons

Please comment if taking. Credit is appreciated. Textless may be used as bases. Caps mostly from Emma-Jane.

NOTE: Despite a lot of work, Icon 59 is too large to be an LJ userpic - if anyone has any idea how to shrink it down to make it usable, feel free.

ETA: Obviously I have exceeded my bandwidth this month, so the icons will have to wait to be refreshed. PLEASE do not Hotlink, and if you've Hotlinked any of my previous icons, please delete them and come back later to save them on your own account.

Teasers:

TEASER! Icon 001 TEASER! Icon 055 TEASER! Icon 077

Current Mood: cranky

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NCAA basketball

Mar. 20th, 2009 at 11:23 PM

I suppose I should be glad I'm unemployed at the moment, so I don't have to use the BOSS button on the March Madness website in order to disguise my basketball addiction. I love this time of year, and I'll watch just about any game that's on. Well, not a few 1-16 matchups - there's no fun in winning by 50.

The men's tournament started on Thursday, and the women's tournament starts tomorrow. ESPN is covering the women, so we'll get to see a lot more of the games than we used to, with the whip around coverage and the multiple channels. The women's basketball isn't taking any of the men's off of the air (they're on CBS), but that doesn't stop commenters on just about every online article from writing that NO ONE CARES ABOUT WOMEN'S BASKETBALL and YOU SHOULD SHUT UP ABOUT WOMEN'S BASKETBALL and WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SUCKS and THEY'RE ALL LESBIANS and other erudite, enlightening and informed opinions. I'm used to that. Some men think women shouldn't play basketball, especially women whom they secretly know could kick their asses at it. There are Neanderthals in every walk of life. Ignoring them now.

And then I clicked over to Deadspin, which I find entertaining sometimes, if only for the way they poke at ESPN. They have a segment every Friday or so called "Waxing Off", which is their clever title for the female-writer ghetto they've corralled and squashed into a once-a-week post. The women who write for it seem quite knowledgeable about various sports, and are sometimes very funny. But today they wrote their article about the women's ncaa's, and I didn't think it was funny at all.

Women's basketball, and why some actual women don't seem to like it. Oh, goody. Let's talk about what the women look like, what the uniforms look like, what the cheerleaders are like, and whether or not any of them are sexy. Let's discuss Candace Parker's breasts! Let's ponder whether or not it would be less boring if the outfits were more revealing! Let's discuss how women can't be good athletes because they're not competing against men!

SERIOUSLY?!?!? You don't have to do the Neanderthals' work for them, ladies! It's like they're hating on the women so they can be "one of the boys." STFU!

So I'll root for the Aggie women and I'll root for the Aggie men, and I'll know that both teams are full of kickass athletes who can play a helluva game of basketball. And I'll acknowledge that things are a lot more equitable than they used to be.

And I shall remain pissed off.