Vancouver Can't Stop The Serenity 2013: Fun and Fundraising! Plus Joss Update.

CSTS Vancouver, 2013

JOSS UPDATE AT THE END
Yesterday I had a wonderful time at the Vancouver Can't Stop The Serenity 2013. Gayle and her team of helpers had prepared a fun-packed day and the atmosphere was welcoming and happy.

There was a packed schedule of events:

Saturday's Schedule - subject to change without notice (but probably not)
Noon     Doors open
12:30     Welcome then Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog sing-along
  1:20     Evil Laugh Contest
  1:40     Live Auction
  2:15     Costume Parade & Prizes
  2:30     Whedon Trivia Bingo
  3:00     Silent Auction ends; doors close. Prize draws. Special videos & introduction to movie 

  3:30     SERENITY

  5:30     Silent Auction winners announced. Closing remarks and acknowledgements

The sing-along Sing-Along was a traditional way to start everything off and if you've never had the experience of singing "..It's a brand new day, and the sun is high. All the birds are singing that you're gonna die.." with a bunch of other people, then I highly recommend it.

Straight after that was the Evil Laugh Contest, and there were some incredibly strong contenders this year. After each had demonstrated their prowess we were treated to mass laugh-off, which can only be described as a Macabre of Evil Laughs.

A Macabre of Evil Laughs

It came down to the Final Four. Unfortunately I didn't get my iPhone set up quick enough to record 'Inaru', but you can see (and hear) for yourself the high standards of the entries:

After that excitement came the Live Auction. The inaugural auction last year was a huge success, and this year it was MC Alan Douglas (a.k.a. @alalcoolj, The Masked Roger and Father Aloysius Rambo) who whipped up the crowd into a bidding frenzy. With many cries of "Signed by Jewel Staite, you say?" the magnificent prizes were snapped up by an eager mob.

If that wasn't excitement enough, next was the costume competition. Another very strong field this year, and we had quite a time of it trying to decide who should take the prizes:

Firefly and Whedonverse Costume Competition

In the end Kaylee, Malinda and Inaru all claimed prizes.

I had neglected to buy my Bingo cards in time (and not just because I was lining up to sample the sweet treats from C & C Cakery which were, as it happens, delicious), so I could sit back and enjoy the Alan Douglas challenging and delighting the audience with some well-thought-out Whedon Trivia Bingo. The tension in the room was palpable, and after a couple of false dawns, there was a clutch of Bingos all at once. 

Then it was rush to get out to the Silent Auction:

Once time was called, it was on to the Main Event. A screening of Joss' Equality Now speech, the CSTS 2013 Equality Now introduction, and then on to Serenity. And, again, if you've never watched Serenity with a crowd of Browncoats you are missing a rare treat.

Joss Whedon's Equality Now speech

I can't thank Gayle and her team enough for such a wonderful day out and I hope everyone enjoyed a well-earned rest today!

JOSS UPDATE
A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the fact that Joss is now on Twitter, and how conflicted I felt about that. Well, sad to say that the @JossActual account has now been made private (I'm sure it wasn't anything to do with that post...).

But - fear not! There is now the @JossWhedon account! So all is good with the world. Just don't be tempted to do something like this:

I'm glad I didn't :)

Not content with doubling his presence on Twitter, Mr Whedon has been busy IRL, including making the 2013 Wesleyan Commencement Speech (surprisingly, nothing to do with Wesley Crusher). He was also made an honorary Doctor Of Letters:

I AM A-SMARTI AM A-SMARTS-M-R-T -- I mean S-M-A-R-T... twitter.com/josswhedon/sta…
— Joss Whedon (@josswhedon) May 27, 2013

CSTS Vancouver 2010 report. Summary: shiny!

On June 26th 2010 the 5th Annual Can’t Stop The Serenity was held in Vancouver, BC to raise money for Equality Now and the BC Women's Hospital. The BC Browncoats put on a great day’s entertainment and both Hubby and me had an awesome time. We made a short video:



Since we couldn't capture everything on the video, here's some highlights from the day:


Introduction and Joss videos
Gayle and Serena spoke about why we were all there for the 5th year of CSTS, the money that has been raised so far and the power of the Browncoats. We then watched some videos including Joss' Equality Now acceptance speech and his Serendipity Speech, which really got everyone in the mood for the day.

Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, sing-along
I missed the beginning because of costume competition duties, but as soon as slipped in I was singing along.  It was a heart-warming experience and I thoroughly enjoyed singing, laughing and gasping along with everyone else. ("..The hammer is my penis." and "...I meant Ghandi.." were among the favourite lines!).


Evil Laugh Contest
I was surprised at how many of my fellow Browncoats possess evil laughs! There must be a coach in the area…. The competition was fierce and it went to a laugh-off between the last three.

The Masked Roger - unmasked?

The Masked Roger Marathon
This was definitely a highlight. The Masked Roger webseries is funny, smart and full of cool effects. Alan has a great sense of humour and it’s worth watching them a few times to make sure you get all the jokes. It was great to see it on the big screen and it went down extremely well with the crowd. Alan also gave a very good speech about the inspiration behind The Masked Roger and how he came to make a webseries. I wish I had managed to record it. He talked about how Dr Horrible and the ELE competitions started it off, how Felicia Day and The Guild spurred him along and how the feedback and encouragement from the BC Browncoats helped to keep him going. Now, Alan, when can we expect the next episode…?

 The Costume Parade (and Hubby's bare knee :))

Costume Contest Parade and Prizes
Hubby had his knees on display, dressed as he was as Fawkes (from The Guild Season 3 and soon-to-be 4). There was an array of costumes from Firefly and the Whedonverse, with the Bad Horse Chorus also putting on a great display (and yes, they did the song, too!). It was very hard to do the judging but there were some very worthy winners.

Browncoats: Redemption Screening
Vancouver was one of the few CSTS events to see the full rough cut of Browncoats: Redemption. I’ve been following progress of the film for a long time now. I’m writing up some detailed feedback for the producers but I can tell you that even though the screening was of a rough cut, I can’t wait to see the finished film. Hubby and I were both impressed with it, and the solid base of the film looks really good. The full premiere at Dragon:Con will be a packed event, I’m sure! I will be writing more about Browncoats: Redemption soon, so look out for that.

I didn’t manage to get a ticket for the Whedon-Works Trivia Bingo but there were some happy winners and some tricky questions, so I took the opportunity to check out the bids on the Silent Auction. There were some amazing items, from signed photos of Jewel Staite, a signed copy of The Guild DVD, genre books, games, models, a knitted dalek….The bidding was pretty fierce for some of the items!

Serenity
What can you say about this film? It represents so many things but, at its heart, it is simply an excellent film full of laughter, tears, action, adventure and a passion that runs through everything. A passion for life, friends and doing what is right. If you’ve never seen the films in the company of fellow Browncoats then I heartily recommend that you do. It is a moving experience.

 Cowboy!

Door Prizes and Silent Auction winners
The winning didn’t stop, and there were some amazing door prizes given out after the screening. We didn’t win a door prize but we did win an item on the Silent Auction which has been a very welcome addition.

To Gayle, Serena and everyone else who worked so hard to make the event run smoothly – thank you for making it such an enjoyable day!