phantym_56: (ascari love)
2011-07-10 10:41 pm

(no subject)

Don't know what's wrong with me. I haven't watched Top Gear for two weeks running now and can't seem to muster the energy to really care. This hurts. I think it's partly that over the last couple of series its popularity has exploded and as it has, the presenters have become more and more caracatures of themselves. The fun stuff has become rather more forced than it used to be and it's rather lost its sense of natural daftness. But I still love James - still want to be James when I grow up - and I have been left with a permanent love of cars. To be fair, I've had the love of cars since I was tiny. I'm far from alone in being the only little girl who preferred playing with cars to dolls but I suspect there weren't as many who could identify so many at the age of about four. Then I lost it a couple of years later. I don't know what happened to my brain when I was a small child but I remember one day just not being able to remember the name for anything. "Airing cupboard" and "Ford Sierra" were two that I particularly vividly remember not being able to remember. And my love of cars lay dormant until I was at university and started watching Top Gear. I don't go as far as to remember much detail about the engines and the horsepower (except that the McMerc SLR is 626hp) but I have my opinions on a lot of them - the most unpopular being that I love the Nissan Cube. I identified quite a lot with James May at the time - I think most people who identify with a Top Gear presenter go with James - and it's all left its mark on me... but it seems I no longer feel any urge to watch it.

Today I have read A Study in Scarlet. About time too. Again I was astonished at its readability, considering its age. And yes, the Mormon section could, at least, have been shrunk down quite a bit. And I don't think I'll be recommending it to Jess, who is a Mormon. But the thing that really astonished me was how much of the framework remained in the BBC version from last summer. I think it could have been fun to see Gregson v Lestrade v Holmes but I can see why Sherlock had to be Sherlock v the police. Holmes himself isn't quite, at this point, the same Holmes he is in the short stories which is what I've read so far. This Holmes is quite bitter about letting the police take the credit for his work whereas later on he really doesn't care. I believe I'm quite looking forward to reading The Sign of the Four in the next week.
phantym_56: (ed - this big!)
2010-12-28 05:41 pm

(no subject)

I am bored out of my tiny little mind. No response from Jess or Annie about meeting up this week (should be neither surprised nor disappointed. That's how people work). I braved the shops this morning because Mum wanted to get out of the house, so I wandered aimlessly for an hour or so, looking in all the shops I go in all year round, at all the stuff I can buy all year round. I find shopping immensely boring unless I'm shopping for something specific, and then it tends to be stressful because I can't go home until I've bought some shoes!! or What on earth do I get Jess for Christmas?? or some such.

My thoughts on Top Gear in the Middle East, Three Men Go to Scotland (and sailing), tonight's TV and last night's insomnia )
phantym_56: (tilt)
2008-07-10 08:32 pm

(no subject)

I has done ficlet...

Marty Hopkirk was killed around 1970 and condemned to walk the Earth as a ghost for 100 years. So where is he now? (actually, I like to imagine he's hanging around Torchwood, but I'm in a Top Gear mood again recently)

phantym_56: (james and hammond)
2008-02-23 12:16 am

(no subject)

I need to do some icon swapping again, either that or get myself a paid account. I want a Ben Miller icon. Which reminds me that I was intending to do a Moving Wallpaper picspam which I'd completely forgotten about.

Mostly I want to say how can Alan Davies be so adorable? Why do I feel the urge to slash him with Sean Lock? So here is an Alanspam - mostly Top Gear-related - Stars in Fast Cars, the one where he drives the old Reasonably Priced Car and the one where he drives the new Reasonably Priced Car. Also from Roman Road and Urban Trauma. Disgracefully, there is nothing from QI or Jonathan Creek here although Jonathan Creek is on my list of things to picspam at some point. 

phantym_56: (tg ot3)
2008-02-09 03:50 pm
Entry tags:

Dolls but not my usual kind...

This is the little project I mentioned a few months ago, which I finished just after Christmas and for some reason, haven't posted.

It's a set of Top Gear peg dolls. I wanted to make something like that but couldn't figure out what to use as a base for it. I have no idea what inspired peg dolls but they worked out pretty well. The clothes are made from scraps and my grandmother's old ragbag appeared right at the crucial moment, as everything except Jeremy's jacket and James's shirt is made from it.

The biggest problem was Top Gear Dog because clearly she had to be made and equally clearly, she's the wrong shape to be made from a peg, so she's made from white pipecleaners which are at least nice and fluffy, but she doesn't stand up terribly well. That's fine, the real thing spends most of her time lying down anyway.


Never having been one for action figures, I've discovered it's quite good fun having these little guys nearby :)
phantym_56: (tg ot3)
2007-12-30 10:20 pm
Entry tags:

(no subject)

I met people from the internet... it was a bit scary.

I arrived a bit early, spotted three people, recognised them instantly as the people I was looking for.... then panicked and fled in the opposite direction to observe from the safety of the crowds before they spotted my James May jumper and my James May book and I crept over to join them.

Not that any of them were actually scary; they were all really sweet and really lovely. We sat on the floor of the station in a circle and then we went to Wagamama where I may have disturbed some people with my refusal to eat (I'm sorry, it all looked very nice but my diet is so unvaried that the only place in London where I can find something to eat is Subway and I went there first, so I was all prepared) but it was all good fun. And I was questioned on my favourite pairing, to which I replied that although James is my favourite character, for some reason I lean towards Jeremy/Richard and it was only after that when I realised that actually, the one I write most seems to be Jeremy/assorted cars.

I was very tongue-tied all day because I am ridiculously shy and also not very good at thinking of things to say even when I'm brave enough to speak but it was lovely to meet you all and to put some faces/voices to names I recognise.
phantym_56: (tg ot3)
2007-10-08 12:00 am
Entry tags:

More Top Gear fic

Title: A Marriage of True Motors, or How Jeremy Got Over the GT
Pairing: Jeremy/Lamborghini Gallardo, mention of Jeremy/Ford GT and Jeremy/Veyron
Rating: PG13
Word Count: 1013 
Summary: Jeremy marries the Gallardo and moves to Switzerland
Warning: See pairings, also may contain spoilers for 10x01
 

phantym_56: (tg ot3)
2007-09-20 04:22 pm
Entry tags:

Umm...

Right. I'm really nervous. This is not my first ever TG fic, but it's the first one I've ever posted.

Title: A Catalogue of Disasters
Pairing: None
Rating: Probably PG
Word Count: 478
Summary: Jeremy tries his hand at being a student.

phantym_56: (tg ot3)
2007-09-06 04:38 pm

Things that made me laugh today

I notice in Woman magazine this week they have a little section about celebrity autobiographies.

All sorts of stars are putting pen to paper this autumn but those hefty tomes can be heavy-going. To save you time, here's what we imagine they'll say in under 50 words!

Richard Hammond
"P**s off, Jeremy, I'm no hamster. Vroom. Bang. Ouch! Don't worry, I'm all better now. It's good to be back in the driving seat and I love my wife and kids. And Jeremy."

:)
phantym_56: (life on mars strange dreams)
2007-04-13 04:11 pm

Two things.

1) I'm not entirely sure how I'm getting Life on Mars or Doctor Who into this epic of mine, but so far, I'm getting on okay with the Top Gear, Primeval, Torchwood and Robin Hood parts. We'll see if I finish it and if it's any good before I decide to post it. But I was checking up on some stuff the other day when I got distracted by:

2) Life on Mars transcripts. I did them last year and I'm doing them again this year. I meant to start weeks ago and keep up with it as I went along, but my supply of DVDs from home was somewhat sporadic and I had essays. I have exams after the holidays so I guess I'll have to have them done by then. Series One and eps 1 and 2 of Series Two are finished though, and I'm halfway through ep 3 and they can be found at http://phantym.atspace.com/lom When they're all done and all linked, I'll announce it in [community profile] lifein1973 . But they take a full day each to do and I'm not spending all day every day on it. But they'll all be done before the end of April, I promise.

16/04 - S2E3, S2E4 and S2E5 finished.

24/04 - S2E6 uploaded

24/04 - The site doesn't seem to be working. I have no idea why but I really hope it's only temporary. Sometimes it's accessible at http://phantym.atspace.com/lom/index.htm so try that.
phantym_56: (tg ot3)
2007-03-22 06:13 pm
Entry tags:

James May's Stripes

[personal profile] th_esaurus in her OT3 picspam asked "Has anyone ever tried to count the number of stripey shirts James has?". I decided to take up the challenge and was a little bit surprised at the results. (all pictures, unless otherwise stated, from bbc.co.uk/topgear)