Fish slap calm me.

[sarea]

1) Those with knowledge about the Anita Blake series: Do we ever learn all about Jean-Claude, and how he became the ultra hottie that he is?

2) This Sat. am going to dim sum w/ Scott and Linda and their friends, who are also a couple. I hate dim sum, and I hate being a Singleton amidst all the Smug Marrieds, but afterward we're going to Fountain of Beauty and I'm getting a massage and that's all that matters. I think it's been a YEAR since my last one, and my back has been bothering me lately. I'm hoping it's just the tightness of the muscles back there, and not that something is terribly wrong. How much is one supposed to tip a masseuse? I usually go about 15-20%, but some people say 10% is fine, or a flat rate rather than percentage. What say you? Can I also mention how much I despise the U.S. practice of leaving gratuity??? I wish they'd just factor it into their wages/prices, because I hate having to worry about it.

3) I'm using Bit Torrent for the first time, and I'm having newbie confusion. Some of the files are downloading as .mpgs, and some of them are downloading as .rm files. What I'd like to do is to burn them to a CD or DVD so that I can actually watch them on a DVD player, rather than simply archiving them as files. corianderstem has helped me out a ton, and I think I'll probably be able do that w/ the .mpgs no problem. But does anyone know if you can burn .rm files so that they're viewable in a DVD player, or do you have to convert them to .mpg first? And if the latter, how does one do that???

4) Watched 50 First Dates again last night for the first time since seeing it in the theater. I just lurve it. The ending makes it worth it every time, plus all the rest of it isn't as grating as I normally find Adam-Sandler-esque movies. Have also shamefully watched Coyote Ugly. Yes, it's terrible, but not Surviving Christmas terrible; it's more Get Over It! terrible -- rewatchable. Plus the music was great and I like Bridget Moynahan. Poor Melanie Lynskey, going from playing opposite Kate Winslet in an arthouse movie like Heavenly Creatures to playing these throw-away best friend roles.

5) Jade and I are switching Web servers, so our site will be down for a few days (possibly more if we can't be arsed to reupload everything immediately). That means our vanishingscroll accounts are frozen also, so you'll have to email us at our Gmail accounts if you want to reach us.

Comments

[fearthainn.livejournal.com]

1) Those with knowledge about the Anita Blake series: Do we ever learn all about Jean-Claude, and how he became the ultra hottie that he is?

Not in any great detail. We learn a little more about where he's from and who his master is in later books, but not really a lot more.

[akscully.livejournal.com]

Figuring out a tip causes you that much worry?

[akscully.livejournal.com]

Here, something to help you.

It's on the Internet, so it must be true.

[sumdumgai.livejournal.com]

Any chance that you can get the pictures back up, so that, you know, Byron's auction doesn't spend the crucial last few hours with a dead pic?

Random stranger commenting on your lj...

[slythhearted.livejournal.com]

I saw this entry through Mynuet's friends page so thought I could give you my 2 cents on Jean Claude.

The canon knowledge of JC has to be pieced together (and in some cases contradicts itself) as yet LKH hasn't gone down the Anne Rice's over information route.

JC was not a noble. He was raised along side a nobleman's son and when said son had to be punished it was JC's job to take the lash in his place. He still has the faint scars on his back from this. He grew up to be a bit of a hottie and was sired by Lisette who was of Belle Morte's line. Vampires descending from BM have powers based around sex magic which added to his already hottie status. At first Asher did not welcome him at the vampire court as he was a little bit worried that this new vampire would be a danger to his own position as resident hottie. They managed to overcome their differences and spent several decades merrily shagging their way around Europe with Asher's human servant. When Asher was tortured JC decided that he needed to be taken back to the court to heal. BM was repulsed by the now scarred Asher and the price for taking him back was JC signing himself over to her for a 100 years of servitude. He was 'given' to anyone (male and female) that wanted him. After the century was up we hit a blank spot in his history until he appears in St Louis at the start of the series. During that time he developed into a Master and gained the ability to control the wolves.

On the question of souls - my understanding is that Anita suspects that vampires have a soul during the night but when they 'die' at dawn the soul goes somewhere. This uncertainty around what happens to the soul is one of her main problems with taking the fourth mark.

Does that help?