rhymephile, posts by tag: oz - LiveJournal

The Oz episode "You Bet Your Life" is on HBO Zone right now, and that scene between Sister Pete and Keller in the computer room where she tells him he made her doubt herself as a psychologist and a nun and a woman got me thinking.

Damn, I miss Keller.

I miss that cocksure, manipulative, simmering bundle of rage, who could saunter into a room and make all eyes fall on him because everyone either wanted to be him or fuck him.

Can you imagine a character like that on any other network series? Having a villain like him pop up on any crime show would have you cheering for him. They just don't make bad guys like him anymore. Fontana broke the mold when he created him.

Why is it that the Winters brothers always pop up on commercials when I'm watching the Military Channel?

Here's Dean Winters in a commercial for Allstate Insurance called "Mayhem is Coming." At first I thought it was an ad for an upcoming TV series or something because he looks sort of like an evil mob guy, LOL.

Hey fellow Ozzies, remember how there were a few of us that got together at the Empire Diner on 10th Ave. in Manhattan, when we were celebrating the first Lee Fest in the City?

Well, the place in which Lee Tergesen used to work has closed forever.

Aren't you lucky you got to experience a piece of history back then?

This story was written for catheights for the oz_magi fic exchange. I figured I would post it here.

This is yet another example of trying to get something in under the deadline and rushing to complete it, and people seem to like it. For some reason the stuff I half-arse is better received than stuff I sweat over. I have no idea why.

Title: "Requiem for a Sinner"
Rating: PG-13 for language
Pairing: Keller and Sister Pete
Author's Note: Set just before episode 4.12, "Cuts Like A Knife."

( Requiem for a SinnerCollapse )

I was watching the Military History channel this morning when a recognizable voice caught my attention. Behold Scott Winters, aka Cyril O'Reily, doing a commercial for some gold investment firm.

Everyone has read Ausiello's report about Lee Tergesen guesting on Law & Order: SVU sometime in the Spring.

Damn, I wish this would have happened a few years ago when I was at the height of my obsession focus on Oz, and before Mr. Meloni and I broke up (I'm sure he'll admit, in hindsight, that's it's been better for both of us).

This means 1) I'll have to keep an eye out to make SVU teasers again, and 2) OF COURSE I'LL WATCH THAT EPISODE. I will remain cautiously optimistic, in the hopes that we don't get some crazy script hammered out by crack-addled monkeys chained to their typewriters. Chances are it'll start out making sense and then drop the other shoe before the episode is over. Gah, I can't get over how far the show has fallen in its craptasticness. <-- new word! TM me

I've also realized today that when Supernatural has given up the ghost (see what I did there?) my TV-watching existence will be bleak indeed. Oh, TV Powers That Be, please send me another good genre show that I can obsess focus on.

sigh I miss Mulder and Scully.

I do this to myself every single year. I get, like, a month or more to write a stupid holiday fic and what do I do? Leave it to the very last possible second to get it done. WOE.

I am speaking, of course, about my oz_magi story. I just...it won't...there's not...it won't come. COME, WORDS! COME, SEMI-COHERENT PLOT! Right now I got nothin'. Hell, I even have a Mulder/Krycek idea! But Keller and Beecher must have hung sheets over the wall of their pod because they're not speaking to me, dammit.

Procrastinating....

Back in 2006 A&E released the complete box set of Homicide: Life on the Street in a collectible tin shaped like a filing cabinet.

On October 20, they are releasing a re-packaged version at a slightly cheaper price point (though not much -- about $140), which I currently hold in my greedy little hands. *glee*

It's all 122 episodes from seven seasons (1993-9) on 35 DVDs, plus the three Law & Order crossover episodes, and the Homicide TV movie, along with all sorts of bonus features.

Homicide is really the granddaddy of procedural and realistic cop shows on TV. It directly influenced Law & Order, The Wire, and Oz because people behind-the-scenes worked on all shows, and each of those series are related to Homicide in some way.

Richard Belzer's Homicide character John Munch was spun off into Law & Order: SVU. He did *much* better work on Homicide. Christopher Meloni impressed people on Homicide, which led to SVU, and in turn Oz. You can pick out individual actors on the later shows and play Six Degrees thanks to Homicide's influence.

Before The Wire came along, Homicide (also set in Baltimore) was the most realistic and gritty cop show on TV. If you've never seen it and are a fan of the shows mentioned above, at least check out the first season. Like the famous tag line from The Wire, it's all connected.

( I won't even bother to put anything outside of the cut. Lots of angry withinCollapse )

The oz_big_bang writer sign-ups end on May 11, and for the life of me I haven't been able to come up with an idea worthy of 25,000 words. I kinda wish this had been bandied about like two or three years ago, when I was in the height of my Oz love.

The other problem, as I see it, is that it's entirely possible to write 25,000 words of something, like an AU or crossover, that no one will be interested in. As great as it would be to say I wrote 25,000 in one shot, I'd hate the thought of working under the pressure and deadline only to discover like two people read the thing. And yes, I'd rather write to an audience than do it "just because."

The longest thing I ever wrote was the Smile Series, and that was like one big soap opera separated into manageable chapters. That took me a year!

Also? I suck at plotting. My talent is strictly in dialogue. I always want to hurry up with the story to get the characters talking because I'm not good at the other stuff. Internal thought? Ugh, I suck at it. A paced narrative? Can I just have two guys sitting in a room talking for 25,000 words? Didn't think so.

You know what else I'm not very good at? Writing sex. I don't particularly like to do it, but that's what *everyone* wants. That and a happy ending. Of course I'm generalizing here, but overall that's what sells. I admit I sometimes enjoy killing characters. There, I said it. But if you stick deathfic up there in a header, people don't want to read it.

Gah, I'm whining.

count_to_seven wanted to see "The moment the inmates of Oz discover that Jack Harkness is an undercover agent, and not a true con."

"Wibbly Wobbly"

"Really, Ianto, don't get your knickers in a twist."

"They're...leering, Jack."

"Leering is just a fonder way of saying hello."

Ianto smacked a groping hand away from his ass. "They're touching now."

"You got two minutes to tell us who you are," growled Jaz Hoyt, "or I start having fun with your girl."

"Girl?"

"He means you, Ianto," Jack whispered.

"Oh, dear."

( Another one that's less than 500 words. Go on, y'all.Collapse )

The prompts for the Oz Magi are up and ready for the taking.

I'm surprised at this year's crop of prompts, as many of them are Beecher/Keller or some variation of Lee Tergesen and Chris Meloni characters. This makes it easier for those of us who write B/K, but may be boring for readers that want more variety from Oz fic. Sorry, variety-seekers!

There are a few that caught my interest, which is much different than last year. Last year I thankfully got the first one I requested. This year though...there are a few that I'd love to try.

Now I have to come up with some fic ideas that might fit these prompts!

ETA I posted my choices! Actually, some of them are so good I may write them even if I don't get the specific wish of my choice.

Overall, Lee Tergesen is a really gracious guy to have spent a small amount of time with each and every person that attended last night's Lee Fest, and there were many of us. He seemed to have made a point to talk a little bit with each attendee.

It was nice of him, because although the space we used was adequate, it wasn't one large table as I had envisioned. There were two tables, one long one and one off to the side, making it a little awkward to have a conversation with anyone sitting farther down along the table. Lee walked around the entire night, and we grabbed his attention when we could. I'm not complaining at all; I just sort of imagined all of us sitting around a huge table with Lee holding court at the head of it.

Eamonn Walker (he played Kareem Said on Oz) was in town and Lee invited him out, telling Eamonn that he was getting together with a few "friends." Eamonn admitted he was a bit blindsided when he showed up and flashbulbs went off all over the place. But he said he was cool with it.

Later in the night, Eamonn sat down across from me for a nibble of the appetizers that were on the table. From there, he and I talked about a whole variety of subjects, from acting, to the class system in the UK and in America (he's British), to religion, for close to two hours. He is very charismatic, with a remarkably positive view of the world around him and other human beings. He's also very handsome and extremely intelligent and insightful. I would have loved to have spent more time talking with him. He made a real impression on me.

Lee's co-star in the film Pineapple, Steven Chester Prince, also showed up at one point. I haven't seen the film and didn't know who he was. He seemed to be having a good time with all the Lee Peeps.

I chatted with Lee for only moments over the course of the night, which was okay with me. I just sort of sat back and watched it all happening around me. The only thing I didn't get to do was ask him about Africa, but I'm sure someone else on my Flist did. We did talk about the play we had gone to see that was co-starring in, "Good Boys and True," and what elements had been cut out of it for that night's truncated performance.

I think everyone who wanted it got his attention, as he was very generous.

I'm sure everyone else on my Flist will be posting reactions, anecdotes, and especially photos. Funny thing was, I didn't take one photo. I left that to the rest of my Flist. I dunno. I feel that I'll never get a better photo than I did back at the Oz Season 6 signing, despite the fact that he was walking among us all night. Everyone else there got hundreds of great photos, so I'll be content looking at those. And I didn't want anything to be autographed, since I had my turn with him at the Season 6 DVD signing.

The night ran smoothly overall, thanks to slip_f18's meticulous planning. I met many wonderful people from my Flist too, which was great. I had a fantastic time.

Note to self: Stop watching SciFi Channel's GhostHunters before going to bed. My mind gets carried away with itself.

Last week BoingBoing linked to this really fantastic mash-up of snippets of dialogue from Disney's Alice in Wonderland coupled with trip-hop, electronica-ish music. The artist's name is Pogo, and you can listen to the transcendent track, "Alice" at his LastFM page right here. If you like, download the other three for free. They're wonderful.

Also, before this weekend, does anyone want here are the MP3s of Lee Tergesen singing from Oz. I can upload them today. Those would be "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good" from Season 1's "To Your Health," the "Days Like These" reprise from Season 5's "Variety," and the Beecher-Schillinger duet, "Last Duet," also from "Variety." Lemme know.

Here, I just did it.

"I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good": http://www.sendspace.com/file/quq1gt

"Days Like These": http://www.sendspace.com/file/9i33cz

"Last Duet": http://www.sendspace.com/file/4mh312