(no subject)

[sapote]

1) Hey, so: does anyone have recommendations for chatty, informative books about:
a) Jerusalem politics in the year 0
b) the Protestant reformation and major dramatis personae thereof
c) medieval cult of the saints and wacky behavior associated with religious orders?
ETA: or, actually, anything about any episodes of wacky religious factionalism in judeo-christian history at all. I should take this to a reference librarian so that they can roll their eyes and refer me to the entirety of Western history.


2) Does anyone know exactly where Rodney McKay lived as a child? Does anyone have a good guess? I haven't been to Canada since I was six months old, so my geography is, sadly, rusty.

Also, I may be more familiar with the geography of Nunavut than anything closer to the U.S. border.

Anyway, if anyone can point me towards any episodes at all, besides McKay and Mrs. Miller, where Rodney discusses his early life, I would be very grateful.

Comments

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I cannot help with most of your questions. As for other episodes, the only one I can think of at the moment is the s6 SG-1 episode "Redemption." McKay tells Sam about how when he was growing up he wanted to play the piano, and about how his parents hated eachother & blamed him. I don't believe he mentioned where he grew up, through. So, I'm not sure how much help that episode would actually be...

[sapote3.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's where Rodney McKay's troubled childhood came from. No wonder I couldn't find it, what with my willful ignorance of SG-1. Thank you so much! And yeah, the other questions are kind of a long shot. I will be surprised if they get answered, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

Ha! Yes, you SGA-ers! You can't ignore SG-1 forever! Just kidding. If you want I can upload his 3 SG-1 episodes for you. It's probably good to have seen as a background for where his character came from, if nothing else. He first is introduced in ep 5x14 "48 Hours." And in this episode, you will barely recognize him. He was created to be Sam's nemesis, and is a complete & total asshole in the episode. The next 2 parter episode is called "Redemption," partly because it's his redemption as a character. He returns much more humble, but still snarky, and has a very interesting & emotional scene with Sam where he talks about his childhood. I remember when I first saw that episode I had wished he would be the one to join SG-1 after Daniel's departure. So I was ECSTATIC when there was talk of a spin-off with his character.

...And that's probably more than you needed to know. lol

[sapote3.livejournal.com]

Hah I feel about SG-1 the way I felt about Costa Rica when I was living in Central America. "Everyone I know loves it! I refuse to go there!" Especially since a full decade of canon is hard to catch up with :-)

My hard drive, sadly, is creaking along with 200 mg of free space, so I'm going to have to try to find SG-1 streaming. But if you feel like listing the episode numbers, that would be a ginormous help! I have seen "48 Hours", at least. For some reason, every time I stay in a hotel that's what's playing on the sci-fi network.

[chibimuse.livejournal.com]

Sorry, intruding on sapote's comments, but:
would you be kind enough to upload those SG1 episodes? Or at least tell me what season they are from?
I've been into SG1 since the original movie came out, but I kind of fell out of it in recent years, and am now getting majorly back into it and SGA. I off course missed the episodes where Rodney was introduced, but he is my favourite SGA character and I would love to see his origins.

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

Sure thing, chibimuse. I'll upload them to sendspace or somewhere & post the links here. He first appears in 5x14, and then again in 6x01 & 6x02 (Redemption Part 1 & 2). sapote3, when I rip them, why don't I just cut out that one scene I was talking about? Or you could try to find it streaming. Do they have entire episodes streaming now? He was also just recently in an episode where he was married to Sam in an AU. I'd have to look up what number that one is, 10x[?]. What's interesting about McKay is that he was introduced as an antagonist to hate and then they had the task of turning him into a protagonist. It was rather interesting to see them do it. Of course, now he's my absolute favorite character...possibly of both series.

[sapote3.livejournal.com]

Cut out that scene? Wow, would you? That would be unbelievably awesome. tv-links.co.uk (http://tv-links.co.uk) makes it relatively painless to get my pirated television free, but I do get aggravated at how much nuance gets lost in the low resolution, and also it's not very good for rewatching. So if it wouldn't be a giant hassle, I would love that.

And I third the "Rodney is my hero" thing we've got going on in this thread. Though he would be an exhausting person to know in real life, I think.

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

Oh god, I'd probably have to kill him in real life. But in fake life, he is awesome. I've never heard of that site, I'll have to check it out. Since I'm ripping them anyway, it's not a big deal to cut out that scene.

[sapote3.livejournal.com]

I have a (distant but dear) relative who is Just Like Rodney. And. yes. Half the time I'm taking notes for Rodney-writing and enjoying how knock-down drag-out an argument about Dr. Who can get. The other half of the time I'm wondering if drugging his coffee will buy me enough time to escape before he wants to talk about quarks again.

I am still getting used to the way in fandom people just wander up and give you files. I am used to weeks and weeks on bittorrent before I can watch anything, at least in a non-pixely way.

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

The other half of the time I'm wondering if drugging his coffee will buy me enough time to escape before he wants to talk about quarks again.

Ok, this? Made me laugh out loud for real.

I am still getting used to the way in fandom people just wander up and give you files.

Hey, shared love of a show is an awesomely powerful thing. I know what you mean, though. Ever since joining LJ, people (for the most part) have been amazingly kind.

You know...the character Elizabeth Weir was also introduced on SG-1 before Atlantis started. (Her & Daniel & Jack had some great chemistry.) She was originally played by a different actress, though. But our Weir (Tori) was in an episode or 2 also. She ran Stargate Command for at least one episode.

[sapote3.livejournal.com]

:-) Also, he brags about making his lab assistants cry. On day 4 of our family reunion I finally cracked and asked him straight-out how he felt about space vampires. I figured it was too good a research opportunity to miss.

I heard that Elizabeth had an SG-1 life before Stargate. Was she particularly interesting?

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

Ok, here's more than you ever wanted to know. History of Weir 101. Weir first shows up in 7x21 & 7x22 "The Lost City," but played by a different actress. This one (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0824763/). I really liked her, so I was a bit put off when they changed actresses in 8x01 & 8x02 ("The New Order"). However, I quickly fell in love with Tori's Weir and now couldn't imagine her being played by anyone else. That's the episode where she's put in charge of the SGC. Her & Daniel have some great chemistry. Her & Jack do too, actually. In that episode she also is the one to tell O'Neill that he's being promoted to General. Then at the end, Jack takes over and she leaves to go work on other things, such as the Atlantis project. But for a very short period of time, she's actually Jack's boss.

[sapote3.livejournal.com]

here's more than you ever wanted to know

Man, I don't get it when people say this :-) I too am a geek! I love it when people fill me in on bits of canon I missed. Sometimes Wikipedia doesn't sufficiently cover it.

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

Oh, good. Not too much geekery, then. Weir & O'Neill have a great connection & relationship, which is why I love scenes like the one at the end of "The Return." They both recognize that they're in the same place, the burden of being in charge & also of taking care of everyone under them, almost like they're their children or something. They have a fabulous mutual respect that I just adore. Or at least that's my take on it.

[sapote3.livejournal.com]

man, that does sound worth watching. Dammit, the SG1 people will get me yet. :-)

Yeah, if we're going to talk geekiness levels I'd have to disclose how many hours I've spent thinking about Athosian architecture and its sociocultural implications. You may just have to trust me on this one.

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen it in ages, so I'm sure I'm making it sound much better than it is. SG-1 has a problem with..er, lameness. But fans seem to look past that. If I remember correctly, I don't think they got along at first. I think O'Neill resented her because he thought she was a puppet put in charge by politicians. Of course, she proved him wrong. Have you seen the episode "The Pegasus Project"? It's a more recent episode where SG-1 goes to Atlantis. (I think from last season?) It was fun to see the cast from both shows interacting in scenes. I was hoping for a McKay-Daniel snark-off, but sadly no such luck. Really, I'd love a scene where they just sort of bitch at each other. It would be awesome. *g*

I'd have to disclose how many hours I've spent thinking about Athosian architecture and its sociocultural implications.

Ok, I think you win. But I might be just as bad because I'd actually like to hear about that. lol

[sapote3.livejournal.com]

::has complicated theory about how good fandoms need lame shows to feed off of:: It's hard to write good fic for a good show. Writing fic that's better than a lame show? I see people do it all the time :-)

I am completely unable not to think about the sociocultural implications of just about anything. It's like a disease. One peculiar to liberal arts majors.

[rydra_wong]

*wanders by*

FWIW, Arduinna's Stargate Handbook, StargateWiki, and Gatenoise SG-1 Transcripts are my standard resources for canon-geekery. Ten years is a lot of canon to wrangle ...

[sapote3.livejournal.com]

hey, thanks!

[chibimuse.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I am completely inept at getting torrents online, so I have trouble finding/downloading episodes.

I would probably cry if I met Rodney IRL and he said something harsh, he'd be so scary! Rodney is UNBELIEVABLY charming for somone so... not-charming? haha, I don't think that even made sense, but I also think you know what I mean.

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

Oops, this is a repeat comment.

Do you guys prefer a certain format? Wmv, Mpeg, avi? WMV would be the smallest file size. I don't know if that's an issue for you.

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

A good place to find Stargate (SGA or SG1) eps to download is ninth_chevron. It has a tag list (http://community.livejournal.com/ninth_chevron/tag/) also. Although you may have to join the community in order to see any posts.

[sapote3.livejournal.com]

oh that's awesome. When I finally get Slings & Arrows burned and off my hard drive I look forward to poking around there. I am WMV compatible, for sure.

[chibimuse.livejournal.com]

WMV sounds fine so long as Sapote has no preference. :)
and thanks for the community recs

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

...And here's (6x01) "Redemption, Part 1" (177 MB)

http://www.sendspace.com/file/g20vot

and "Redemption, Part 2" (also 177 MB)

http://www.sendspace.com/file/30wlfp

Hopefully those all work. I still haven't been able to figure out how people get those pretty 350 MB AVI files you see everywhere. These are probably fine for watching, but I don't think I'd use them for vidding or anything.

[chibimuse.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! All three episodes downloaded quickly, and the redemption ones were great despite the lower quality.

He's even more of an asshole than I'm used to in Atlantis! :D I love it.

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

Here's ep 5x14 "48 Hours." This is the episode where McKay is introduced. Watching it now, he looks so young and with longer hair. *g*

http://www.sendspace.com/file/4mtvi8

(wmv, 278 MB) Let me know if something doesn't work right.

[sapote3.livejournal.com]

I have no idea where your icon is from, but I find it aesthetically pleasing.

[chibimuse.livejournal.com]

http://zebragirl.keenspot.com/
Even if you're not into webcomics, this one is AMAZING!

The art is stunning (as you can see from the icon) and the writing is great. Unfortunately it is more like a series of novels story-wise, so you would have to begin reading at the beggining. The art and writing aren't quite as good at the beggining, but it improves very quickly! It is definitely worth the hours it would take to read the entire thing.

[sapote3.livejournal.com]

thanks for the link!

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

Ok, here's that scene that has probably spawned more angsty childhood fic than anything.

From (6x02) "Redemption, Part 2": McKay & Carter in the infirmary (7 MB). I rewatched it and, sadly, no mention of where he grew up. From the thread below, Toronto sounds likely, but what do I know? Nothing, that's what.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/78a1sw

And just because he is pretty much too cute for words in this scene. Ah, the birth of McKay/Carter. Fear it. *g* (3 MB)

http://www.sendspace.com/file/dhixtl

[sapote3.livejournal.com]

aww. Young Rodney! So cute! ("Why, what'd you think I said?" and then I laughed, really hard, because apparently I am twelve.)

This is one of those times when I realize that no matter what problems I have with Stargate canon, Rodney McKay is a really well-drawn character, dammit. And so interesting.

[phnelt.livejournal.com]

Hi! So I'm not sure if it's 'chatty', but the best book ever (that I have found so far) about the reformation is Reformation, by Diarmaid MacCulloch.

They've never mentioned where Rodney was born, but I always thought Toronto, because it's big, he talks fast like that, and also, I was born there so I'm a little biased.

As for the wacky behaviour of saints and cults, the book where I've seen the most of that, though it's not nearly close to the main focus is the Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, by Barbara Walker. Just because she has all these entries where she talks about it. I hope that helps a little.

[sapote3.livejournal.com]

Hey, I was kind of hoping you'd weigh in on the geographical question. Thanks! And I will check out those books. I actually have the Walker one somewhere, I'm sure. It sounds like one of those things that winds up on my bookshelves.

[chibimuse.livejournal.com]

Another reason why it is probably Toronto is that Canadians in general tend to think of one city as their 'home', or where they grew up. The fact that his sister doesn't question why he is in Toronto (only why he is at her house) makes me think that Toronto is their 'home' city, where both of them have lived for a long time.

He does have the attitude of a Toronto or Ontario dweller. Other areas of Canada have distinct little attitudes, especially in the west.

[sapote3.livejournal.com]

This makes a great deal of sense. Thank you!

[phnelt.livejournal.com]

She's pretty... intense in her feminism. But it's so well researched, I mean, she actually got into the Vatican library (which I can't figure out, it might have involved identity theft. If I was the pope, I'd be all 'hell no, get that woman away'). It's that book where I learned that the name Adam comes from Adamah, which is this red clay stuff. He's literally earth!

And there was always this urban legend that certain parts of lake Ontario were so polluted that they could be set on fire and I always had this mental image of Rodney going out and actually testing it. You know, for science and truth. It would be hilarious.

[sapote3.livejournal.com]

baby!Rodney would probably have been very into studying science and truth through, you know, blowing things up. Which would have been a good preparation for later life.