Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Dr Horrible auction, PAX, DragonCon and general awesomeness

Conventions. I need to go to one. 
Yes, I still haven't managed to get myself in gear to attend a Con this year. Even October's V-Con, Vancouver's Sci-fi, Fantasy and Gaming Con looks doubtful because of scheduling for me. I didn't get to San Diego's Comic Con, but I talked about it here and on Whedonage because the schedule included so many great people. Now Kids Need To Read have put up an awesome new Dr Horrible/Comic Con auction item: 

"4200 enthusiastic fans attended the Doctor Horrible panel at San Diego Comic-Con in July, but only 100 were lucky enough to get into the autograph session that followed. Call it “crazy random happenstance,” but one of those fortunate few was a Kids Need to Read officer, who has graciously offered this rare collectible for our auction. The item is an 8×10 Lobby Card for the series and boasts a stellar set of autographs – Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, Joss Whedon, Felicia Day, Jed Whedon, Zack Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen!"



Wow! This is one rare collector's item. Dr Horrible has smashed expectations and the iTunes box office, so this is sure to be the ultimate prize for fans...

DragonCon - things to see and do
This weekend is DragonCon and Twitterland is abuzz with people making their preparations. The Buffy: Between the Lines crew is going to be performing B:BtL live at 2.30PM on Saturday, 30th August. Then, on Sunday, they will be performing the first officially sanctioned fan-production of Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog in full costume! 

Scott Sigler, podcaster and writer of one of my favourite books this year, 'Infected', will be there on Saturday. 'Contagious', the follow-up to 'Infected', is being released in time for Christmas, so here's your chance to go and ask Scott how much he's been enjoying getting these edits done. Really. He won't mind telling you one bit.

On Saturday there is also a screening of The Guild and 7.00PM arranged by a 'Guild Champion', Jamie Chambers. There will be signed copies of the DVD available and Felicia Day and Sandeep Parikh will be attempting a live chat intro to the screening. They aren't there in person because...

PAX - things to see and do
This weekend also see the Penny Arcade Expo happen in Seattle. Now Seattle is only a 2 hour drive away from me. Think about it. That's not far. But fate has conspired to ensure that there is no way on God's green earth that I can get there this weekend. Which is really a huge pity for me because Felicia Day and Sandeep Parikh (Codex an Zaboo, the ill-fated couple in The Guild. Hehe, I've never thought of/described them as that before...!) will both be there. On Friday at 9 pm there is a screening of The Guild Season 1 and they will both be there - the first time they have attended a live screening! There will be a Q&A and they will signing and selling DVDs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, too. A great opportunity to meet the stars. No. I'm not bitter. But if you do go please post your pics and stories!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Badger's return, Dr Horrible's Pony and more...

Beginnings and endings - always tricky... 
I used to love reading "Farmer Duck" with my kids. The repeated line in it is "How goes the work?". I really must see if it's in one of those boxes in the garage one of these days. But on the whole work is going well at the moment. My paying job has now finished and I've been looking around for more home-based work that didn't involve stuffing envelopes, pyramid selling or dubious 'chat' lines. It's not as if I haven't got lots to fill my days (boredom? That's not been on my radar for years), but some sort of income is a necessity. Hence the job search. And it takes up a significant amount of time, I can tell you. But new opportunities are on the horizon, so I'll fill you in on that soon.

Mark Shepard
I loved him as 'Badger' in Firefly (and his accent was pretty good) and he was an excellent addition to the cast as Romo Lampkin in Battlestar Galactica. His scenes with Adama Jr were a real high-point. And now the news from Dollverse that he is going to have a role in Dollhouse. They got the information from Mark's Facebook pages. If you have a Facebook account (and know how to work is better than me...I'm really not a fan of Facebook) why not friend him? Or try MySpace - he updated his blog yesterday and confirmed the Dollhouse shooting, and it has a great picture of him.

My Little Dr Horrible Pony
There are so many talented people creating wonderful items and showcasing them on the Internet. A little while ago Whedonage had a link to some imaginatively made-over 'My Little Ponies' - Dr Horrible and Captain Hammer:


There are several photos on the website - I particularly love the superior expression of the Captain Hammer pony. I don't know who created them as there doesn't seem to any information, but I know that I love them!

Webseries news
The scripts are nearly complete and filing such commence soon. We've had lots of views (nearly 1000 in total) and some very encouraging comments, too. As soon as I post Act IV I'll let you know.

Writerly news
And I've just read Zoe Winter's novella 'Kept' and I'm telling you, when she starts her podcasts of 'Save My Soul' later in the year, you are going to love them. This is the one. Tell your friends.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

My day? Got soaked, wrote a webseries, joined a cult - you?

Yeah, just a typical day, really. Nuttin' special.
Wow, the weather has been so hot here these last few weeks. As a rule I don't blog about the weather because, as someone who lived most of her life in England, I'm sensitive about the fact that most of the world thinks that's all we talk about. In fact, it's clearly only about 70-80% of the time. Dur! But it's been wall-to-wall sunshine, weather like I have never experienced before! So planning a 1 night camping trip seemed to be reasonable, I mean - how could it fail with such great weather? Anyone who's ever been forced to go camping as a kid, only to endure freezing temperatures, gales and monsoon-type rain (i.e. the Great British Summer) will understand that it took a lot for me to agree to the trip, which also celebrated our 1st anniversary in Canada. Maybe it was fitting, therefore, that it rained almost non-stop and the 30C-plus temperatures fell to nearer 12C. Made me almost homesick!

But the good news is - I wrote the rest of my webseries!
Yes, the sound of the rain on canvas, plus the nearby highway and goods trains, meant that sleep was in short supply. Factor in some epic snoring from other members of the trip and I could actually be hallucinating writing this blog now for all I know (I hope not - if I was going to hallucinate I'd like it to be something a bit cooler, like meeting Joss Whedon or being a Production Assistant on The Guild!). Miles away from civilisation, with nothing to do except listen to the cacophony all around, gave me the chance to sort out the last 3 episodes of my 'Evil League of Evil' webseries. Of course, I couldn't actually write it then, what will the rain and the canvas and the not having my Macbook, but fear not. It's all locked in my noggin just waiting to be realised. 

Coming soon - Act IV!
So now I'm trying to work out if I can do a weekly release, and once I can start to think straight again I should have the answer to that pretty quickly. And maybe I have been hallucinating because a fellow webseries writer (ha! I just couldn't resist that!) Felicia Day Tweeted that she is looking for volunteer production assistants for The Guild Season 2- full details on WatchTheGuild. The bad news (for Felicia, obviously) is that you have to live in the LA area. I would contemplate the commute but with Season 1 of 'Evil League of Evil - The Office or Whatever I'm going to call it' in production at the moment I have no spare capacity. Which brings me to the next bit....

Any ideas for a name for the webseries?
Come on - you are all intelligent, internet-savvy people! Surely you can think of a suitable title. As an incentive, if your suggestion is taken up you will get your name on the 'Evil WorldofHiglet' YouTube channel. What a prize! And thanks for the positive feedback so far. If you want you can rate, comment and subscribe on YouTube. It's free, easy and lots of fun :)

You may address me as 'Sister Awesome'
Which brings me to the last segment of today's madness. Yes, I joined a cult. Yes, I have a cool title (see above). Yes, there may be chanting. Someone compared Tabz (Tabitha Grace Smith - from the glorious Buffy: Between the Lines, Joss'd etc) to a cult leader and, being the sort of person she is, she started a cult. Easy, isn't it? What's that? You want to join too? Well don't ask me, Tweet Tabz and see if you're worthy...

Saturday, August 16, 2008

New Fan Response to Dr Horrible - EvilWorldofHiglet...

That's the thing about evil twins... 
...you never know what they'll get up to next! So, in a perfect example of how I'm a bad influence on myself, you will find 3 new videos have been uploaded to YouTube today. It's a new departure for me (and, er, her), and follows Dr Horrible's application to the Evil League of Evil. If you have ever wondered about Bad Horse's Evil Empire, and the office that supports it, then you will wonder no more. Though how he manages to rule League with an iron hoof might be all the more surprising when you see this employee's professionalism in play. Get the kettle on and sit back for 2 minutes of fun (times 3).....










And if you enjoyed them you could always go over to YouTube and add a comment or rating.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Buffy Between the Lines, The Guild, Dr Horrible...

Geek overload imminent! 
It's been another busy week in geekdom and the weekend is shaping up to be treat-packed! For a start, Buffy Between the Lines Season 2 starts tomorrow. Here's a peek at one of their new banners:



Irrel is the talent behind the banners.  She has also done some great Dr Horrible and The Guild graphics, too. Felicia Day herself, in an exclusive interview on DoctorHorrible.net, said that her favourite fan moment at Comic Con was meeting Irrel and getting a copy of The Guild artwork. Check out her site to see the rest of her work.

Tabz and the team are busy themselves at the moment - fresh from Comic Con they are at the New Media Expo tomorrow (Saturday, August 16th) at Las Vegas, Nevada at 12:00 pm. They also going to be at DragonCon where they are doing two performances. On Saturday, 30th August they will be performing B:BtL live at 2.30 PM. Then, on Sunday, they will be performing the first officially sanctioned fan-production of Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog! They will be in full costume and singing along is encouraged. I really wish I could see that.

My copy of The Guild DVD has arrived!
Yes, it's arrived and yes, it was signed by Felicia. Thank you for doing that, Felicia :) Well, I'm reasonably sure it's her signature, but it's hard to tell since I think her RSI had set in by then! Shipping all the DVDs turned into a marathon lesson in, well, 'businessing' and Felicia has posted a moving and hair-raising account of it on her blog. On behalf of everyone who received them this week - I thank you! I can't wait to watch it in all it's glory, but that will have to wait until Sunday, because I have a packed schedule between then and now. The question is, do I watch the series first or dive straight into the extras (DDR on widescreen)? Choices,  choices! Maybe I've got time to just sneak a quick look....

Rumours are circulating...
...that new footage might soon be released related to Dr Horrible. This isn't from Joss and co, though, but a fan video. Details are scarce at this stage, but it promises to 'blow the whole Evil League of Evil operations wide open'! Sounds intriguing...I'll keep you posted.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Insight 101, Part 2 - what have we learned?

Sex sells?
Following on from the last post, you'll be interested to know there has been no abatement of the people visiting WorldofHiglet's Weblog looking for more information about Felicia Day in Hotel Erotic Cabo. But what else did we learn? 

Social Media: it works!
Well, it does, up to a point. A lot of the traffic that comes to my blog comes from people who have seen my Tweets, or comments on Friendfeed, or who have found me on MyBlogLog. And I'm more than pleased to see that Kids Need To Read are now on Twitter! This could be the push you needed to sign up for Twitter at last. And check out the KNTR YouTube page...Yes, Social Media. I will have a lot more to say on this subject soon.

Who's got the answers? Search me...
The other thing we learned is that people search for the oddest thing. 'Boy Pants' - really? 'Velour Fetish' well...maybe. So I'll be keeping an eye on you. I wonder what the most obscure search item will be next week?!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Insight 101: How I KNOW what you are thinking....

Blogging, eh? It's a funny old business...  
And nothing has amused me more in these last few weeks than checking up on YOU, my dear readers. No, I haven't been cyber-stalking you (apart from, you know, those people I do stalk, and they know who they are). But I have a good idea about how your brain works. For a start, how did you get here at all?

Statistics, not metaphysics 
And by that I mean, how did you find this lil' ole blog? Some of you searched your way here, and I will return to you in a moment. And some of you headed this way after clicking a link on another site. Perhaps you read one of the articles on Whedonage and were desperate for more, or you first read about me on my other blog over at Wordpress. Or you are thinking of joining my community on MyBlogLog (do it - it's free and easy!). The thing is, I know how many of you have done this through the power of Google Analytics. This free and spanky piece of software shows me where the traffic on my site has come from, how long it stayed and which posts are the most popular. Here are some highlights....

Most popular search phrases:
repo brothers
paley buffy
Nathan Fillion

Most popular posts:

Most popular referring sites:

Most surprising search phrases:
Velour fetish
Boypants
What are boypants
widget geek

Want to know more?
Well the real reason for this post was not to bore you useless information but to share with you one fact that has kept me amused out of all proportion these last weeks. On my Wordpress blog do you know what the most searched for thing is? Do you? Well, please don't tell Felicia, but here is a screenshot that tells you all you need to know:


Of course, Wordpress allows you get the IP address and email of everyone who visits, so I know that most of these searches are one person. I wonder who Mr S Parikh is.....? 

Tomorrow, we'll look at what these results mean (if anything).

P.S. One of the facts above is incorrect. Do you know which one?

Saturday, August 9, 2008

New Whedonage Article is up!

Joss, Felicia, Nathan, Tabz, KNTR, Wil.... 
The list is so long, this latest article is in two parts! I've looked again at the people I'd queue all night to see and hence 'Comic Con 2008: The Queue List Wrap Up'  Part 1 and Part 2. I hope you'll pop over to Whedonage and have a read, maybe leave a comment...Plus, I get called 'inimitable'!

After it was published this morning I noticed that Kids Need To Read updated their site last night with pictures and news from Comic Con, so while I'm trying to get a link added into the article, you can check out their latest news here. There are great stories and pictures.

Do you like the new look?
And, in the best tradition of avoiding proper work, I've finally managed to get the 3 columns on the blog. I'm still tweaking, but hopefully it'll look a bit less cluttered soon....

Friday, August 8, 2008

The Guild, BBtL, Whedonage and more....

Running to keep up! 
Well I don't know about you, but it's been a busy week over here. After waving goodbye to our visiting family at the weekend the house was feeling pretty empty (well, apart from my brood, of course) but luckily I've had plenty to keep me out of mischief. Isn't that good?

The Guild DVDs are on their way
Felicia and helpers (who included Sandeep 'Zaboo' Parikh) worked their way through boxloads of orders for The Guild, Season 1 and they are now all posted out. Have I mentioned my admiration for Ms Day and The Guild here before? Ok, then! So it's no surprise to know that I am ridiculously excited about getting this DVD. You can keep up with all thing Guild by going to WatchTheGuild.com or even using The Guild FriendFeed room.

Buffy Between the Lines - Season 2!
It's hard to believe the time has passed so quickly but Season 2 starts on Saturday 16th August. With lots of excitement to come this season make sure you check out the BBtL website for the full story - and don't forget that Lisa T debuts as Cordelia, which is certainly something to look forward to. And there is more news from the BBtL team, too, concerning Dr Horrible. Now, what could that be about? Check out this DragonCon post and then tell me if it doesn't make you go "Wow! I wish I was going to be there"!

More Whedonage posts to follow
I've also been hard at work on a followup to my Whedonage post about Comic Con. Yes, it's been a labour of love all right, but it's nearly ready to go up. It's going to be in 2 parts, though, because I just couldn't condense it down anymore. So many great people, so many great things to write about! And speaking of Whedonage, my exclusive interview with P J Haarsma (award-winning author of 'The Softwire' books and co-founder of 'Kids Need To Read' literacy foundation) has gone down very well. P J was kind enough to say he would do a follow-up interview so if you have any questions please put them in the comments and I can include them.

Reading for pleasure - and friends?
I've had the job of reading a draft of 'Save My Soul', a novel by Zoe Winters. Well, I say 'job', but there was a lot more pleasure than work involved! Writing is a strange beast and it's very hard to judge your own work. When Zoe asked for readers for her novel on her excellent blog recently I signed up straight away. After having to put it to one side while others things took precedence, I made the time this week to finish it and send some feedback to Zoe. Now, I'm not going to give any spoilers away but this is a very good read indeed. The story is well-paced and plotted, I really like Zoe's style and voice, and the ending really surprised me! The good news for all of us is that 'Save My Soul' is going to be Podcast, so as soon as a date is set for that I'll be blogging about it again. Thanks, Zoe - reading 'Save My Soul' was a pleasure!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

More Monkey Business - Wash goes Bananas!

Alan Tudyk signs up for more Monkey Magic
Remember those cute Space Monkey that Kids Need To Read auctioned some time ago? Well, they have a new auction with this cute little fella:

This one-of-a-kind Space Monkey's wonderfully bright shirt has been signed by Alan Tudyk (who played Wash in Firefly and Serenity) and it also comes complete with the essential accessories: a KNTR button and plastic dinosaurs. See the full details on the KNTR website and then fly, leaf on the wind-like, over to eBay and place your bid. You've got until August 6th, so you'd best hurry....