the rambling fanatic

TrueMyth over at the X-Files TWOP forum posted a link to this and I simply had to share here. It's a deleted scene from The X-Files pilot and I swear this looks news. It's got a baby Gillian Anderson (24 years old) as Scully lecturing students at the FBI Academy in Quantico. She is so cute but her students look older than she is. I must check my DVDs.



Another holdover from the IWTB press is this anecdote from British comedian and Shaun of the Dead actor Simon Pegg's blog. Pegg appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman the same day Gillian did.

Got into the Bowery Hotel, showered, went out and bought a shirt, met up with my friend Tony, then went to The Ed Sullivan Theatre. Got to my dressing room to find a message from Gillian Anderson scrawled on my mirror in lipstick: PEGG - I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE NOT COMING TO MY FILM. DIE SCUMBAG!!! - DANA. I was supposed to be going to the X-Files premiere when I got home but couldn't go because we had friends from LA getting in that day for Nick's wedding on Friday.

To quote Mulder in "Bad Blood", "Dana!?" How hilarious is she. I guess taken out of context it seems downright rude but this is so Gillian. Simon Pegg stared in the cult British series Spaced back in the late 90s and his character had a well documented crush on Gillian and Scully. He also happens to be a big fan of the show.  Flashforward a couple of years later and Pegg is sharing scenes with Gillian in How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, which is due out in October. Someone lets Gillian know about the history between Pegg and her XF alter ego and it's all embarrassing, awkward, and very funny. Gillian's ribbing is extended fun from their time on the movie together.


In other fandom bits, Cutthroat Business one of my Forever Knight stories has been nominated in two categories over at the forsaken_fandom awards. That is way cool. A great big thanks to the person who nominated me.

I almost bought the Gossip Girl DVD yesterday but I held off. I'm still trying to decide on which X-Files iPod to get so I'm keeping my wallet closed as much as possible.

And lastly, CW  has yet to release any promotional material for Smallville. It was rumored by people in the know that images were going to be released this week but they didn't. Come one CW! It's been too long since I've seen new Smallville stuff and the premiere is September 18th .


IWTB Domestic Box Office Total: $20.5 million as of Thursday, August 21st.

1. I plan on seeing XF: IWTB again on Sunday. This will be my third viewing and more than likely my last. I've resorted to bribery so that this time I won't be sitting alone and because I'm dreading an empty theater. My brother is going with me and he is being showered with copious amounts of food (his metabolism is so high it's practically an X-File) and I've agreed to watch several episodes of Bleach. It's probably pushing it to think that I can get a second weekend from him.

2. As of Thursday, July 31 XF: IWTB has made $13,635,495 domestically.  It had a budget of $29 mil. My hope is that it'll clear $20 mil domestically before it finishes its run.

3. Salon has a squee worthy Scully love article.

"Today's television is not without its Scullys -- "Law & Order" ladies who crack skulls and chase bad guys in Jimmy Choos. But they all feel like tall, skinny, limp knockoffs of the original. Dana Scully was not standard television beautiful, but a diminutive pre-Raphaelite, pale of skin and red of hair, who could give equal amounts of soul to lines like "Nothing happens in contradiction to nature, just in contradiction to what we know of it" and "Well, seeing as how it's Friday, I was thinking I could get some work done on that monograph I'm writing for the penology review: 'Diminished Acetylcholine Production in Recidivist Offenders.'" A woman who, when asked by her pestering partner to examine a cadaver's head just one more time for a set of horns, can snap on her gloves and mutter "Whatever" like she really means it."

The "diminished acetylcholine" quote has long been one of my favorites. "So Scully any big plans?" Oh Scully! ::hugs::

"In an entertainment world where women are disappearing from multiplexes, where men bulk up as superheroes while women don't eat but sip pink drinks, we need to remember that there was once a very short heroine who hunted monsters and talked about Einstein, who kicked ass and questioned her faith, who went to work with a man she loved but didn't rip his shirt off over lunch, who didn't want to believe, but opened herself nonetheless to possibility. We need Scully back, even for a moment."

4. Post IWTB fic has been making several appearances and may I say that they are nothing short of beautiful. It's almost enough to make me want to save the fic to my hard drive like I used to in years gone by. To make a folder for it alongside my post col, AU, and post fill-in-the-blank fic.  I love them all! They're mostly short but they pack quite a visceral punch. The numbers aren't quite post-"The Truth" numbers but right now it's quality not quantity. I can't wait for the first longish IWTB fic to hit the net. I'm also preparing a post with some recs.

5. I received in the mail today my XF:IWTB official novelization and the soundtrack. XF has been consuming my every fannish thought right now so this is just fuel to the fire.

6. Maybe I missed this in the IWTB interview onslaught but according to this interview Gillian Anderson was apparently offered a role in last year's season of 24.

"Last year I was asked to do a season on '24,' and I considered it. I didn't know the series, but I thought it might be fun to do something that's highly respected. Logistically it didn't work out, but it was the first time I considered something, and I might again, but not something that's going to take a few years out of my life."

How incredibly awesome would that have been. I doubt the offer was for the incredibly awesome season 5 but rather for the ho hum season 6 but that would have rocked. If there's anything IWTB has done is remind me of how much I miss having Gillian on my screen on a regular basis.

7. I watched the season four finale of Doctor Who yesterday. I've got mostly mixed feelings. I'm a pretty casual viewer and the only season I've seen in its entirety is season three with Martha. I remember Donna from the first Doctor Who I saw "The Runaway Bride" and I've read positive things about her on the web but I've got no real connection to her. However I have so say that I am not at all happy with her conclusion. Is Doctor Who supposed to be tragic? Also, I've only seen about three episodes with Rose and I understand there are quite a number of Rose/Ten supporters out there. I don't really ship anyone but I was rather intrigued with Rose and the human!Doctor. On one hand it's like "Here you go shippers! This one's for you" but on the other hand he's not really the Doctor. Regardless, I wouldn't mind reading some fic on Rose and human!Doctor.

8. There's interesting discussion on forkni-l about "Curiouser and Curiouser" right now, mostly about vampires and guilt. The conversation is more about the ability of vampires to synthesize guilt but I'm more interested in the fantasy world Nick's concocted. Nick has nothing if not an active imagination i.e. the diner sequence in "Dying for Fame" and even the rock star sequences, visions of Erica in "Last Act", LaCroix offering Monica up to Nick in "Feeding the Beast", or the bringing Natalie over in "Night in Question". According to LaCroix, the fantasy world Nick was in was all his guilt. If he doesn't take care of it soon it'll manifest itself once more but with "more ferocity." What would up the ante from "Curiouser and Curiouser"? Something with the same intensity as susanmgarrett's "Knight in Hell' perhaps? I also wonder if anyone's ever written fic set in that fantasy world. It has a lot of extremely interesting avenues for exploration. Schanke as the by the book cop, Cohen as Nick's counselor, Captain Lambert risking her job and/or reprimand for a liason with a subordinate (Nick), and Janette's knowledge or not of Nick infidelity. I always thought that Janette was aware of Nick's affair but after reading forkni-l, when Janette spoke of Nick's "performance" and the Captain it could have been his work "performance" and not the extracurricular kind. I guess my mind's in the gutter.

Today December 10 marks the official start date for XF2. I've been holding out ever since the series ended back in 2002 that the planned sequel would finally get off the ground. News officially broke on Halloween that the sequel was in fact a go.



This picture isn't the exactly the one I wanted but it'll have to do. I miss the days when I had just about any XF, David or Gillian photo at my fingertips on my hard drive. Since my computer is being shared by multiple family members I have to censor what I store on it so no fannish pictures that'll make the layman scratch their head in confusion.

Edited to add a picture of Gillian which is probably remarkably close to the do Scully will be sporting. It's an AP photo but I swiped it from a great new (to me) XF site dedicated to update info on XF2.



Doesn't she look absolutely amazing? Now where are my David pics?