Felicia Day, Knights o the Guild Fight For Kids Need to Read

Kids Need to Read recently auctioned a photo featuring the cast of the internet sensation The Guild that was signed by all six cast members. When Guild star Felicia Day heard about this, she helped spread the word to her 350k Twitter followers. Felicia has over 350,000 followers on Twitter. Within hours of Felicia’s tweet there were thousands of hits..

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Win Signed Photo of The Guild - and Support Kids Need to Read

Talk about a Win-Win! 

There's a new auction up on the Kids Need to Read website today, and you could win a signed photo of the award-winning webseries The Guild featuring the all six cast members and their signatures: Felicia Day (Codex), Sandeep Parikh (Zaboo), Vincent Caso (Bladezz), Amy Okuda (Tink), Jeff Lewis (Vork) and Robin Thorsen (Clara). You can bid for this item on eBay now!

About The Guild

The Guild webseries follows a group of online gamers and who meet in real life - with hilarious and sometimes heart-aching results - has won many awards, most recently three Streamy Awards. The Streamy Awards celebrate the best in Web Television and the live feed was a huge success - I blogged about it last week. The Guild is written by and starring the gorgeous and versatile Felicia Day, whom Joss Whedon has credited as his mentor for getting Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog webseries off the ground. And yes, Felicia starred as Penny in Dr Horrible, too.

About Kids Need To Read

KNTR is a literacy foundation set up my award-winning author P J Haarsma (The Softwire books and creator of the Dr Horrible Remote) and actor Nathan Fillion (Captain Hammer in Dr Horrible, Mal in Firefly & Serenity and currently starring as Castle in, er, Castle!). 

Their mission is clear:

    *  To purchase books by raising funds through auctions, sales of merchandise and other available means

    * To provide books to libraries, schools and other institutions in need

    * To provide books to children through established institutions

    * To foster a love of reading in all children

    * To encourage reading among reluctant readers

These are great goals and any support you can give them will be gratefully received. You can check out where they have made donations and read the inspiring donation stories on their website.

Random thoughts and heartfelt thanks

I wasn't going to.

I wasn't going to do a New Year post with all the stuff I'd done and what I'm going to do and how it was all about me. So I won't do that. I much prefer it when you talk about me, anyway :)

Things that have rocked my world in 2008:

• Felicia Day: Yeah, yeah, I know...! But, seriously, she has been inspirational and I heart her very much.
• The Guild: the funniest web series I've seen this year, bar none, and the best online Community.
• Dr Horrible: the best new Whedon's'es production this year plus a cool fansite
• Battlestar Galactica: intelligent, sexy sci-fi is not dead
• Firefly and Serenity: it's less than 12 months since I first saw them and I'm still recovering. And through them I've met so many wonderful people.
• Buffy: Between the Lines and Tabz: so glad I found them!
• Pink Raygun: so much geeky goodness - and a new home
• Kids Need To Read: a fantastic Literacy Foundation putting books where they are needed most.
• Twitter/Friendfeed/Plurk (sorry I've been absent....)/MyBlogLog: and all the online places where I can geek
• YouTube: source of entertainment and they even let me post my videos there
• Interviewing some wonderful, talented people and Whedonage for giving me a place.

So much to say

Really, I have a lot to say about what a huge year it had been. The ups, the downs, the journey, the people I've met, the friends I've made. I am not the same person I was 12 months ago. And by the same token, I'm more myself than I have been for years. And you have played your part, and I thank you (yes - you!) for that. Life is good, adventure is afoot and the New Year beckons with a wink and a smile. 2009 is going to be a stellar year. It's just I can't tell you why just now. Trust me. It's going to be good.

Black Friday - shop online with KNTR and make a difference!

The Kids Need To Read Holiday Shop is open

....and they have a wonderful selection and many items have 25% off during their Black Friday sale event. This event runs from November 28th and November 30th - it's on NOW!

The have books, audio books, jewellry, games, plushy toys, bath sets...lots of choices and every item you buy goes towards funding the work of Kids Need To Read. The work they do as a Literacy Foundation is simple but so powerful. From their mission statement:

"There are great numbers of schools that have not been able to buy new books for their students to read for years. Kids Need to Read was established to fight this disaster by sending exciting new books to under-funded schools and libraries across the United States, as well as to other institutions that serve children, particularly disadvantaged children whose gift from Kids Need to Read is sometimes the first book they have ever owned."

The foundation was set up by award-winning author P J Haarsma (who writes the fantastic 'Softwire' books) and actor Nathan Fillion (who starred as Captain Hammer in Doctor Horrible and as Mal in Firefly and Serenity). The KNTR Holiday Shop also has signed items such is this whole set signed by Alan Tudyk (Wash from Firefly/Serenity) which you can 'Buy it now' for only $80! 

This has three great signed items - that's three presents sorted out for $80 and you don't even need to leave the house or the warming glow of your computer monitor! Plus you know that you have supported a foundation that is helping to bring the gift of books to children (from the KNTR Mission Statement):

"Reading – it is the single most important skill children must learn to be productive members of society. Books open their minds, inspire their imaginations and stimulate their intelligence. As budget cutbacks increase, funding for libraries is often the first thing to go, especially in failing school systems."

Go and visit the KNTR Holiday shop now! It's open until Christmas but the special Black Friday offers end on November 30th.

Browncoats honoured and Dr Horrible update

Kids Need To Read new Endowment 

A wonderful announcement on the KNTR website this week:

"All of us at The Kids Need to Read Foundation sincerely thank the Browncoat community for its ongoing support of our efforts to not only provide books for children, but to encourage a life-long love of reading in the kids our books touch. To permanently demonstrate our gratitude, Kids Need to Read is establishing The Kids Need to Read Browncoat Endowment. This fund is being started from a donation by the California Browncoats and expanded by donations from the Austin Browncoats, Mid-South Browncoats and NoVA Browncoats Meetup Group..."

KNTR have already donated to many schools and organisations and this endowment will ensure that carries on in perpetuity. Many, many congratulations to KNTR and all Browncoats for the wonderful work you do.

What is a Browncoat?

Whedonesque posed this question today. What's your take on that?

Dr Horrible - top ten lists 

The Applications for the Evil League of Evil closed last week and since then there has been mounting excitement. Lists of people's favourites are popping up all over the place, and Pink Raygun are starting to interview some of the applicants and their creators. I can't possibly comment on any of the entries for the obvious reasons, but here some lists if you want to look for ourselves:

Pensees Admiratives

Tilzy TV

i09.com

And theonetruebix has set up a playlist of all the YouTube applications he has found:

YouTube Playlist

One thing that has struck me (apart from the obvious fact that neither Evil WorldofHiglet's or Felicia Day's entries aren't on any of the lists!) is that people are going for the  more highly-produced entries. My preferences don't swing that way, but that's only me. And no, I won't be publishing a list of favourites....

Captain Hammer, Castle and quick roundup

These are not the Hammer...

But the new auction from Kids Need To Read has an official Captain Hammer teeshirt signed by none other than the Hammerman himself, Nathan Fillion. It's ok, I'm not going to do another big rant about how great Mr Fillion is, how his new series, Castle, has been picked up by ABC and will be airing in 2009, how wonderfully he plays Mal, Caleb, Captain Hammer or any of his other roles. Nope, not me!  

All the details are on the Kids Need To Read website, and the auction is on eBay with a closing date of September 13th - so best hurray!

Dr Horrible and The IT Crowd - a match made in (geek) heaven!

See, Twitter tells you things. Like the makers of The IT Crowd, a wonderful sitcom by Channel 4, want to use Dr Horrible outfits in Season 3. And Dr Horrible, via Twitter, has now said they are in talks...this is very exciting!

What else?

Lots! I've been busy, although there's not much to show for it yet. I've also been spending far too long on FriendFeed Beta, although some of that time can legitimately be put down to research. And Felicia has Tweeted that there is to be a read-through of the first 8 episodes of The Guild Season 2 soon. And you know you are very tired when you go to check a Tweet, get distracted reading a debate about Thundercats on FriendFeed and then forget what you were doing...

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!

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?!

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....

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....

Browncoat Bonanza! - KNTR have all the books....

Thought you could only get your Firefly/Serenity fix via your TV?
Think again! Apart from being able to see 'Serenity' on the big screen at a location near you soon, thanks to 'Can't Stop The Serenity', there are also six official books that can expand your understanding and appreciation of Joss Whedon's 'Verse. Kids Need To Read are now auctioning all six of these books - and every book has Nathan Fillion’s and Alan Tudyk’s signatures inside! Imagine having all those books and each signed by Mal and Wash - incredible! Now, this is going to be a mega-auction so I would strongly suggest you think about how much you are getting. Six books for yourself - or - you could have six Browncoat friends forever in your debt by distributing them has highly-prized Christmas/Birthday presents. There have already been 7 bids, so get over to eBay before 15th June to get your bid in.

The Guild updates
Jeff Lewis (who plays Vork in The Guild) has written a movie called 'For Christ's Sake' that will be premiering at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival this weekend. It has an 8/10 rating at and a good review at Rotten Tomatoes, so it would be well worth checking out. WatchTheGuild.com has full screening information. And Jeff Lewis, along with Felicia Day (Codex) and Sandeep Parikh (Zaboo) will be performing with 'Being Humans', and Improv group for the next two Fridays in LA. A great opportunity to see these rising stars live - go to WatchTheGuild.com for all the details.

Supernatural Season 1: Signed and Ready plus Ernest Borgnine!

Do you do Supernatural?
Well I've not seen it yet, but it's one of those shows that I keep meaning to check out. Sylvia Bond over at Pink Raygun is a big fan and I love her reviews of the episodes but so far I've never actually seen one. In the new Kids Need To Read auction Season 1 is up for grabs - here's the details:

This 6-DVD set is a collector’s dream signed by the show’s creator and four of its cast members. The front cover is signed by Eric Kripke (writer, producer and director), Chad Lindberg (Ash) and the versatile actor Frederic Lehne (Yellow-eyed Demon). The inside cover is signed by series stars Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester) and Jared Padalecki (Sam Winchester). In addition to the DVDs, the package includes Team Winchester stickers, postcards and a Team Winchester hat!

This sounds like a great opportunity to get your collection going, so head over to eBay and get bidding!

Did you see The Poseiden Adventure the other night?
Well, me and Hubby watched the first bit, reminiscing about the Bank Holiday weekends of our youth when blockbusters such as Poseiden, 20, 000 Leagues Under The Sea, Ghost of Flight 401 and all the Sinbad films would trotted out in TV...Good times. It also lead to a debate about how great Ernest Borgnine was (Ghost of Flight 401 had me hiding as a kid!) and how he must have died years ago. Yet today I read on Whedonesque that Amber Benson (who played Tara from Buffy) is in a new film "Another Harvest Moon" starring none other than Ernest Borgnine, who is still acting at aged 91! One look at his IMDb record and you can see that he has been working steadily all the time - he was even the voice of 'Mermaid man' in Spongebob (you gotta love that little yellow square dude!). I'm thrilled Amber Benson has a new role (she is a fine actress), and even more thrilled to find out Mr Borgnine is still with us and acting. Fair made my day.

Friday Review: Softwires and Cylons!

Hard-wired for Geek? I'd rather be Softwired....
Sometime ago I read and reviewed 'Virus on Orbis 1', the first in the 'Softwire' books by P J Haarsma. Since then book 2, 'Betrayal on Orbis 2' has been waiting for me to pick it up. I knew that once I had started reading everything else would have to wait so I've been biding my time. Last Friday, though, there was no BSG and I decided that enough waiting was enough, so I dived straight in. The story starts not long after the end of the first book and we are picked up and propelled straight into the next challenge(s) for JT and his friends. As predicted, it proved to be an exciting and all-encompassing read! So much so, that the '100th Post...' almost didn't get posted...

What makes you care?
I've read a lot of books, some brilliant, some good, some bad, some indifferent. The brilliant ones make an impression that stays with you after you finish. Such are the Softwire books. They are very well-written and complete stories but there are so many things that you want to know more about. What happened with the SpaceJumpers? Why are the Nagools the way they are and how is this going to be of importance in the future? Is the whole of Orbis society on the verge of collapse? Of course, there are the obvious questions about what the future holds for JT, Max, Katheria and the other children, whose side is Charlie on and what will Orbis 3 be like? But the thrill for me is the detail of the time and space the Orbis books are set in. The way the society is set up is completely alien yet so believable. The interaction between the characters and their setting. Yes, PJ, I am hooked, so I hope you are well on your way to publishing Book 3 (see what PJ had to say about what is going to happen to JT in Book 3...! )

See, Hear
If you are still wondering whether these award-winning books are for you then how about listening to Chapter 1 of 'Virus on Orbis 1' read by Nathan Fillion? Yes, really! If you go to the Kids Need To Read MySpace page you can hear Nathan read the first chapter and I have to say it is an excellent reading. And you can also see an impressive promo video on P J Haarsma's website. I could watch a whole lot more of that video!

Did you say Cylons?
Well, BSG is back tonight. I'm interested, but not building my hopes up. I know what if I get too excited someone I really like will get the chop. I'm acting cool in the hope that it will save someone's neck. It could work....But on a happier note - do you live near Vancouver? If so, then you are in for a treat this weekend. The 13th Colony (Vancouver's Battlestar Galactica Fan Club) are undertaking a location scouting in the parks on the North Shore to find shooting locations for Caprica, New Caprica and Kobol tomorrow! I meet Val at the Firefly Meetup and she is a great advocate for BSG - and you will probably find that she looks familiar, too. They are meeting at 1.00 so go to their MeetUp page for more information and to sign up.

Win a Signed Photo of Jewel Staite!

The ever-cheerful Kaylee is up for auction.
Kids Need To Read have another wonderful Firefly/Serenity auction at the moment that gives you the chance to bid for a fantastic 8x10 signed photo of Jewel Staite as Kaylee, the genius mechanic from Firefly and Serenity. Jewel is currently starring in 'Stargate: Atlantis' and has a very loyal fanbase - check out her MySpace page! The auction is on eBay so finish off your snowglobes and head over there before 30th May.

Why support Kids Need To Read?
Sometimes it seems like everyone is after your hard-earned cash. Well, that's because they are! If you support a foundation like Kids Need To Read, though, your money is doing more than allowing you to expand your collection. Your money goes towards funding literacy projects that put books into the hands of children who would otherwise not have them. Reading is such a fundamental part of society. Without a grasp of reading, children are doomed to never fully participate and will always be on the outside. Key to developing a lifelong reading habit is access to a wide range of books, and this is where Kids Need To Read are making a real difference. If you want to know more about the impact they are having, please go to their website and read the wonderful letters they have received from grateful schools and projects.

KNTR: Supernaturally Good!
And in more news this week, KNTR have announced that Team Winchester http://teamwinchester.com/wp/ (a fan effort to promote the CW series Supernatural) has adopted Kids Need to Read as one of their official charities. Team Winchester have already donated an item for auction, so look out for that in the near future.

100th Post plus other stuff

Didn't think we'd make it this far.
Back in February when I started this little Blog I didn't have any idea. Did it show? Possibly. Why did I do it at all? Well, there were many reasons. I realised that there was a whole world of interest for me that was simply passing me by. After being a very early adopter of the Internet I had fallen by the wayside. I only used it as a tool for work and not for what it was meant to be - a big ole sandpit. This was prompted by watching 'Firefly' for the first time and realising there had been whole fan campaigns that I barely knew about. It was a call to action, and I jumped right in.

Still in the closet?
Back then I would have classified myself as a firm closet geek with no intention or desire to change that. But now? Well, in my online life I'm firmly out there, geeking it up with the rest of them, and enjoying it wholeheartedly. This is spilling out into my 'real' life and you know what, it's not that scary. Small steps, but I think it's progress. And after the Serenity Screening in Vancouver on 22nd June who knows what might happen? I might even tell my mum that I Blog :)

Things I like
I've made so many discoveries on the way, I'm not going to list them here (that would be what all those other posts are about....!). But here are some highlights:

• Discovering Fireflyfans.net message board and then joining Tranquility, a Virtual Firefly
• Joining the Universal HD Firefly message board and the Saturday Shindigs
• Contacting Vancouver Firefly/Serenity MeetUp and actually participating (wonderful people - hi Serena and Gayle!)
• Finding Kids Need To Read and The Softwire books - a fantastic literacy foundation and brilliant books
• Buffy: Between the Lines - podcast extraordinaire and the reason I know about Tabz and Scott Sigler
• Pink Raygun - because there always more to discover
• Realising that 'The Guild' was the start of something very big (and what a star Felicia Day really is)
• Starting WorldofHiglet's Weblog and Garim posting a link on Whedonesque

I've meet great people, made some interesting and life-affirming discoveries and had a blast in the process. And a big 'Thank you' to all the people who have commented on my Blogs, it really has made all the difference - it's all about the interaction!

Is that it, then?
Looking at the above, it's almost as if I'm getting ready to bow out of the Blogging business. Well I'm not about to do that just yet - in fact, it feels like I've only just started! There is so much still left to do - my first Fan Screening is booked but what about my first Fan Convention? Setting up my own domain so I can host both Blogs there and getting my freelance writing website sorted, getting another Serenity movie made, winning on Halo....there is much to do.

Cap'n Mal's monkey and other happenings..

Terrifyn' Space Monkey - Nathan-style
Here's your chance to bid for a Terrify’n Space Monkey signed by Nathan Fillion - Captain Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly/Serenity. Nathan Fillion is also the co-founder, with 'The Softwire' author PJ Haarsma, of Kids Need To Read, a Literacy foundation that is helping to send exciting new books to under-funded schools and libraries across North America. This latest auction from Kids Need To Read runs until May 25th so swing over to eBay - the bidding has started already!

Wil Wheaton and Star Trek: The Manga
And there is another on-going auction by KNTR at the moment, too. I've not forgotten about Wil, I still lurk on his blog and follow him on Twitter, I just haven't got around to posting about it with everything else that's going on. But this auction by KNTR gives me a great excuse to do just that. In case you didn't know there is a now a Comic Manga series of Star Trek and this auction is of a copy of the second volume to be published by TOKYOPOP entitled Kakan ni Shinkou or "To Boldly Go." Ten assorted artists and writers present brand new adventures featuring the classic Star Trek (TOS) line up of characters. Wil Wheaton (a huge comic book fan) was one of the contributing authors and he has signed this copy. When he was first asked to write for it he blogged about how much of an honour it was for him. This is another great auction and it closes on May 23rd so beam over to eBay and get those bids in.

Jewel Staite to be full-time on Stargate: Atlantis
Over at Whedonesque there is the news that Jewel Staite will be staying on for season 5 as a regular. In a quote from sliceofscifi.com:

Also this season, Jewel Staite will become a full-time cast member as Dr. Jennifer Keller. Staite described Keller as growing more comfortable with her place in Atlantis this season. “She steps up to the plate a little bit more,” Staite said. “She’s becoming more courageous.”

Update on Other Blog
I've posted 'Future Entertainment Part 2: Anticipating Doctor Horrible...' on my other 'Worldofhiglet's Weblog' so feel free to pop over there and take a look.

Browncoat Cruise and Battlestar Friday

Did you know about the Browncoat Cruise?
I heard tales of it from people who were there - t'was the summer of '07 and a gallant ship set out from San Diego, California to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and back on a journey of discovery and delights. Packed with Browncoats and celebrity guests, everyone enjoyed days of entertainment and relaxation, all without any Alliance interference. And now Kids Need To Read are auctioning two fantastic souvenirs from this unique event:

"A Browncoat Cruise Souvenir Program signed by Brian Wiser, producer of Done the Impossible and one of the cruise directors. Brian also designed, printed and made all the programs himself! This 30+ page, full color booklet includes bios of the guests, ads from your favorite Firefly/Serenity sources, and cover art by artist Adam Levermore-Rich (Lexigeek). Second, a limited edition (only 500 were made for the attendees) Browncoat Cruise Travel Poster measuring 17 x 22 inches. The poster bears the signatures of Ron Glass (Shepherd Book), Michael Fairman (Niska), Jonathan Woodward (Tracy), Nectar Rose (Lovebot), “Firefly Theme” vocalist Sonny Rhodes, The Bedlam Bards (Cedric & Hawke) and poster artist Adam Levermore-Rich. "

The auction is on eBay so cruise over and place a bid before the end of line on May 18th.

Battlestar Galactica
Ok, so I've not posted about BSG for a couple of weeks. Two reasons: lack of time and the fact it's so hard to post without spoilers! This last season is winding up to the huge and outstanding finale, and with lots happening to the crews, it's difficult to know what to say. Except - it rocks! So instead, I direct you to Pink Raygun. They have spoilers galore but if you want reasoned debate, incisive comments and hilarious explanations about BSG then this is the place to go. Just don't go if you need to be going out soon, and say I didn't warn you about the spoilers!

Captain Reynold's Dogtag: You Could Own It! Plus FireFly MeetUp

It's true - Cap'n Malcolm Reynold's Dogtag up for Auction!
Kids Need To Read have announced their new auction and it promises to be a hotly-contested one. A new '57th Overlanders, SERGEANT REYNOLDS, MALCOLM' dogtag (plus chain), signed by Nathan Fillion is now on offer on eBay. Bidding has already started and the auction is open until May 9, 2008. It looks fantastic so get over to eBay quick-smart and get your bid in!

I've taken my first step into a larger world....
So then, yesterday. Quite a packed day with one thing another. Took a trip into the big city (Vancouver) to finally meet up with my FireFly MeetUp group. I'd not managed to attend any of the other meetings and I was determined to get there yesterday. After quite a bit of travelling and our first trip on the SkyTrain me and eldest daughter* arrived in Vancouver. A bit unsure of directions we asked the first person (who was English - of course!) and we headed off to Soho Billiards. We arrived a trifle late (about an hour) but the group was still there. Serena and Gayle gave us a wonderfully warm welcome, introduced us to the group and then we settled down to eat and chat. As well as the Browncoats there was also Stargate Atlantis and BSG/13th Colony representatives. I've never been to anything like that before and I really had no idea what to expect.

So, how was it?
Great! A chance to talk about the show, speculate about what was going to happen at the end of BSG (conclusions: who knows how it will end? The only certain thing is that we won't be expecting it!). And plans for the big Vancouver charity Serenity screening on June 22nd for Can't Stop The Serenity are coming on apace. It promises to be a great event and I'm buying my tickets this week to make sure - I don't want to miss out on it! We also saw Serena knitting the most gorgeous tiny Jayne hats. Made me want to start knitting again. Except you can't type and knit at the same time...Thanks to everyone who made me and #1 daughter so welcome!

Free Comic Book Day
After we had talked and laughed and speculated a bunch of us headed off to Elfsar Comics to look in on what was going down. The place was buzzing and The Joker and friends were there to help with out selections. Now I know you want to know - were there free comics? Yes, there were! A table at the back was laid out with a variety of special comics that you could pick from. Elfsar were doing a special deal whereby you got 5 from the selection just for showing up. If you made a donation to the Food Bank you got to pick another 5 comics, something from the table AND enter your name into a prize drawer. And so I came home leaden with comics and a 'Resident Evil' tee-shirt. Elfsar is packed with goodies and very welcoming. I had my 9-year-old daughter with me and she was right at home, looking at the action figures and asking for money (they're so cute at that age!). She was quite mortified on the way home, though, as we had to stand on the SkyTrain and I dropped all my comics on the floor. Ah well, the teens who helped pick them up pretended not to be looking at the titles with amusement, and I pretended that I wasn't embarrassed, so the rest of the journey was uneventful in comparison. A great day out.


FireFly release on Blu-ray is confirmed
Whedonesque have posted that you can pre-order from Amazon.

*Yes, yes, grammar-nerds! I know this is the incorrect form! It should be 'my eldest daughter and I ' but that sounds just plain wrong in an informal blog. No points for spotting all the other incorrect uses, either...

Web Birthday, Monster Jobs and Indiana delights

15 years ago yesterday, the Interweb was born.
Well, in a way it was, because 15 years ago yesterday a document was signed that allowed the free use of the technology on which the WWW is built. The BBC had a particularly interesting article about this which features interviews and future predictions from some of the most influential web luminaries including Sir Tim Berners Lee, Professor Wendy Hall and Robert Cailliau. Most are upbeat about the future of the Internet (which is good), and Robert Scoble's contribution resonated very strongly with me:

"The web means everything to me: I use the web to talk to my friends, to keep in touch with people around the world, to buy things, to look things up, to do research.
I can't think of a part of my life that isn't touched by the web in some way."

Too true!

Monster Haiku and other delightfulness
The new auction from Kids Need To Read is a collection of wonderful books for children and adults., alike. 'Caught Creatures' (a book of monster haiku), 'After Halloween' (a rhyming/alphabet book about the jobs monsters have) and 'Klawberry' (about a cute, little monster girl in a not-so-lovely world) are all autographed by illustrator and graphic designer Daniel M. Davis. The auction is hosted on eBay so head over there and make your bid.

Harrison Ford, eh?
Yes, I have to admit to having the hugest crush on Harrison Ford for most of my younger years. Nerd or not, the only reason I watched Star Wars the first time was to see him. Ah. Yeah. Of course, being the mature adult I am, I am way past that stage now. Of course. And the reason I'll be heading off to see the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is because the kids want to. So imagine my horror when I saw this "George Lucas admits that he’s stopped trying to please his fans and that, if you previously liked the Indiana Jones adventures, they will be ruined for you if you see Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. " pop up in my 'Pink Raygun' update. Lisa Fary's latest article does quote Lucas as saying that the Crystal Skull will disappoint, but she also tells us why we needn't be too worried. Still, fingers crossed...

PS: R2-D2 Projector
You know you want one...check it out.

Battlestar Galactica, The Looking Glass Wars and Clara

So then, one more step nearer the end.
Jane Espenson, one of my favourite writers and all-round great person, wrote the last episode of BSG, which we watched last night. Now, I've seen some people apparently complaining about this season (I say 'apparently' because I only read the first bits so as to keep myself spoiler-free). It has been a different experience for me because I'm not watching 5 new episodes back-to-back like I was before (you should really try this if you haven't already. Get a whole season of a program you've never seen but think you might like/someone else recommended to you, and just go for it). I hate having to wait for adverts to end, never mind a whole week between episodes.

Keep me hanging on, please!
But I'm really enjoying this season. I know things are slowly unravelling, and the anticipation of what is yet to come makes me slightly giddy. So last night I was moved, startled and excited, and then the beginning titles came on! No spoilers, but the first scenes were utterly captivating, and the remainder of the episode just built up the tension. I really, really can't wait to see what happens next. And yet...I'm trying to savour every scene because I'll never be this close to the end without knowing what's to come again. Bittersweet, indeed.

The Looking Glass Wars, a la Francais
I've not read 'The Looking Glass Wars' yet, but it's one of the books on my list to take with me on that cruise I'm going on. When it was released in the UK it caused quite a storm and I made a mental note to read it (anything that can get 'The Guardian' readers in such a pickle has to be good!). And now the latest auction from Kids Need To Read features a French edition (entitled 'Les Guerres du Miroir') signed by author Frank Beddor and comes packaged with a host of other LGW-related goodies. The auction is on eBay and closes on May 2nd, so brush up your Francais and get bidding!

I hate sprouts
The vegetable, that is. One of the few I can't stand. Felicia Day has found a use for Sprout Builder, though! It's a neat and easy way to create little widgets that can be put on most web pages. I've put one of 'The Guild' ones on my blog. It's really easy to add them. I went to WatchTheGuild.com, found the widget and clicked on 'share'. You then press 'copy' and all the code you need is copied to your clipboard, ready to paste into your web page/blog/whatever. Easy! It looks straightforward to make you own Sprouts, too, but I haven't tried it yet. I've got writing to do, you know! And speaking of The Guild, Clara (played by Robin Thorsen) is on Movie Mob and you can vote to keep her on for next week.