No-one expects the Fannish Inquisition!

Did I mention I interviewed Felicia Day last week? I did?

Blah blah blah I've been really busy - yeah, I know you're bored with hearing that so here's a post that isn't about me writing my book, doing interviews and hanging with the stars like Felicia. Instead, this is about two great interweb events you may have missed.

And now for something completely different

Monty Python is now officially on YouTube! As they have put on their channel:

"For 3 years you YouTubers have been ripping us off, taking tens of thousands of our videos and putting them on YouTube. Now the tables are turned. It's time for us to take matters into our own hands... 

We've launched our own Monty Python channel on YouTube....

But we want something in return.

None of your driveling, mindless comments. Instead, we want you to click on the links, buy our movies & TV shows and soften our pain and disgust at being ripped off all these years."

Yay for the Great British Compromise! 

Fannish Inquistion? Shurley Shome Mishtake!

And one of their great sketches (which isn't yet officially available but you can find easily if you look...) is the Spanish Inquisition. Were you expecting that? In a clever twist there is a relatively new site that has nothing at all to do with Monty Python but everything to do with the news that matters most - Sci-fi news! The Fannish Inquisition has been going for a few months and already there is some brilliant coverage of Firefly and Stargate conventions including lots of interviews, podcasts from the events and photos.

Creation Con in Burbank, LA 

The latest reports are from the Stargate and Firefly Conventions in Burbank which were held on Nov 21-23 2008. There is so much to read about the event! I am totally in awe of the attention to detail, depth of interviews and reporting and the quality of the photos. Stunning. Plus there are podcasts interviews, too! Ron Glass, Jewel Staite, Adam Bladwin, Summer Glau and Gina Torres were all at the event and I a sure that you won't find better coverage than this. You know I've been busy but I couldn't help but spend far too much time reading up on what my favourite stars have been up to! So for everyone who, like me, didn't get to go, this is the next best thing.

Jayne AND his hat up for grabs!

The new Auction from Kids Need To Read is sure to be a winner!
You may remember some time ago I wrote about Jayne's hat and how I thought I would never own one due to my knitting skills being somewhat lacking. Well, I could possibly get my wish after all with the new auction from KNTR. A fantastic signed photo of Adam Baldwin as Jayne Cobb (from Firefly/Serenity) looking moody and magnificent (or is that cunning?) is up for auction and with it is a hand-knitted Jayne hat! That's some great auction. There has already been some bidding for this and it ends on April 13th so head over to the Kids Need To Read auction page for more information and a looky at the prizes.


Talking of KNTR...
I'm still waiting for my books by P J Haarsma from Amazon: The Softwire: Virus on Orbis 1 and The Softwire: Betrayal on Orbis 2. I hope they come soon because PJ himself left a comment on this blog saying he was looking forward to hearing what I thought of them. No pressure, then! Actually, I can't wait because my 'reluctant' reader will be needing a new book soon and this would be good timing for them. I will read it first, though (I get first dibs because I paid for them!). So I'd better get 'Infected' finished!

Joss Whedon's Journal...
...will return tomorrow, when we learn a little bit more about how a writer works....

Jayne's hat - breaking news!

California here I come..
Big excitement today when I saw on the California Browncoats' website that Jayne's hat - the actual one worn by Adam Baldwin in Firefly - is to be auctioned between Sept 24th and Oct 04th. The proceeds are going to the Marine Corps - Law Enforcement Foundation. I expect that this will be the subject of intense bidding so check their CABC eBay page to make sure you don't miss it.

Once more into the breech
And so it goes on - the campaigning, I mean. Faces of Serenity have launched a campaign designed to persuade Universal to make a Serenity sequel movie. The nature of the campaign appears a little, well, arduous, at first but I think it is based on the very sound notion that Universal will be most swayed by proof that there is a fan base that is willing and able to shell out to see the movie and buy the merchandise. And the photo part should be good fun.

Wheatonesque
Wil Wheaton is still recovering from his op, though things seem to be going well. He's not updating his website as much as usual while he convalesces but he has posted a very apposite photo. I'm not sure whether Anya (from Buffy) would be pleased or terrified!

Ploughing (plowing) your own furrow
I watched 'Our Mrs Reynolds' from Firefly again last night and now I'm wondering where that expression comes from. Not to worry, it is a perfect example of why Firefly was such a great program. Anyone who is yet to see Firefly/Serenity would be well advised to watch that one episode - chances are you'll be a convert. The script and acting are fantastic.

Good Bible
So endth the lesson for today.

Jayne's hat

What did you do today?
I know what I did; research, writing, house stuff and created some new links for the blog (as I'm sure you've noticed). I've also added the feed from the Kids Need To Read website. Co-founded by Nathan Fillion (Captain Mal Reynolds from Firefly) this site is updated regularly and raises money for reading projects. It's a great site that's well presented and a cause worth suppporting. They also have ebay auctions of all sorts of very exciting items and are at the moment auctioning a signed photo of James Doohan (I don't need to tell you who he was, surely). It's been so productive today the engines cannae hardly take it.

Feed the what?
But I'm having some trouble with feeds, so I hope that will be sorted out soon. If anyone has tried to subscribe using 'Atom' feed button at the bottom of the blog and had any problems please let me know. Especially if you know how to fix it!

A boy called Jayne
Actually I wanted to talk about the girl first. Jane Espenson's website is witty, well written (of course) and full of advice for aspiring writers. Her writing credentials are impressive and include Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Ellen.

Kneedly done
One look at the pattern for Jayne's hat (as worn by Adam Baldwin in Firefly) has convinced me that I'm better off either bribing someone to make it for me or buying one. And where did I see the pattern? On the Vancouver Firefly/Serenity meetup site.

Over and out
That's all for today except to say that Star Wait should be on it's way soon. And (wait for it) there are some follow up interviews in there! Thanks to Michael for that, I'm really looking forward to watching it.